Kelly Chambers romance
by Kelly'smygirl
Summary: Takes place between the Arrival DLC and Mass Effect 3 and explores a romantic relationship between Commander Shepard and his Yeoman Kelly Chambers.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: Hey all, this is my first fanfic so yeah let's go with that… Anyway I find it criminal how there is no fanfic love out there for our Yeoman, Ms. Kelly Chambers. Am I the ONLY FAN? Anyway I liked that Bioware included her as an LI (love interest) but still I felt a little dissatisfied that the only LI's that were really worked on were those aboard the Normandy. Don't get me wrong I love all of them, each one is a cool and creative character, I just feel that we ME2 fans got screwed over; especially ME2 Femsheps. Anyway I just thought I would make a story about (M) Shep + Kelly It starts off in the Arrival (post suicide mission) and ends in ME3. Anyway hope you guys enjoy it all criticism and comments welcome. OH and I DO NOT OWN nor claim to OWN any of Bioware's property, characters, or stories. It's there world I just play in it. **


	2. Chapter 2

_CH 1 The Calm Before the Storm_

_Exterior Shepard's Quarters: Two days post Suicide Mission._

The lights are dim in Shepard's cabin, say for the blue pale blue light emanating from his wall mounted aquarium. A quiet stillness blankets the room. The floor is littered with the remnants of a forgotten evening. Bits of clothing; shirts, shoes and socks lay all about the cold, metal tiles. Across the table lay an empty bottle of Asari liquor, its rose colored contents barely clinging to two tipped champagne glasses.

A voice suddenly breaks the silence and tranquility. As the ships pilot wakes the room's inhabitants with his usual sarcastic tone;

"Rise and Shine Commander! We have an incoming transmission from Arcturus Station from our old buddy Admiral Hackett." Joker said with a sneer. "Should I tell him your **BUSY** sir?" Joker added with barley contained snickering.

Commander Andreas Shepard slowly opened his eyes and replied with an exasperated sigh as he lay on his back staring up at the ever expanding darkness of space through the ceiling light and thought "Oh well, So much for basking in the _afterglow_" a smile forming across his face which soon faded as quickly as it arrived. "Besides I have a bad feeling that things are going to get a hell of a lot worse before they get better." Even though the thought of the coming war left him with a sick feeling in his stomach Shepard couldn't help but feel a small sense of satisfaction. "But still we did it" he thought confidently, "My team and I stopped the collectors, once and for all. Even managed to blow up their base, bet that'll piss off Harbinger. Can a Reaper feel anger? I should ask Mordin next time I'm down in the tech lab" "Still I know one thing is certain, Cerberus is going to be mighty pissed off that I blew up their little science project." His grin returned at the thought of pissing off the Illusive Man. "Good. I don't owe the Illusive Man a damn thing, crazy bastard thought the collector base was worth preserving." He shook his head "Still" he paused "I am thankful to him for one thing." He proudly thought as he adjusted himself so that he was lying on his side with his head planted firmly on his right knuckle. "I'm grateful for her;" Shepard warmly thought with a smile "My Yeoman Kelly Chambers." He turned to face the voluptuous yeoman that lie next to him quietly resting after their long overdue night together. Shepard reached for her with his right hand and lightly caressed her smooth, milky white cheek with the back of his hand. Her skin was warm and soft to the touch; with nary an imperfection to be seen, say for a few freckles that dotted the surface of her rosy cheeks. "From the moment I stepped onto the Normandy Kelly always greeted me with her infectious smile and her enchanting optimism." Shepard thought happily as he moved a strand of her strawberry colored hair that had came loose back behind her ear. "Somehow Kelly always knew what I needed to hear." He smiled while he continued to softly stroke her cheek. "She was always there to give me an emotional anchor, an ear when I needed someone to hear my concerns. It's not surprising that I fell head-over-heels for her." A sudden shift in the bed roused Andreas from his thoughts, as he adjusted his attention to the beautiful woman that lay next to him. "Morning" Kelly groggily stated to her lover. "Damn." Andreas thought; "Even half asleep she is still sexy as all hell." The yeoman turned to face Shepard as she adjusted herself so that she could place her hand firmly on her lover's chest. Kelly laid her head softly onto his right breast, and purred; "I told you if there was any touching being done you would be involved." She teased. "I guess you were right Kelly." Shepard replied with a smile. "So how'd you sleep?" The yeoman chuckled at the commander's question, knowing the two did _everything _but sleep last night; but she decided to indulge him anyway and simply answered in a playful tone "Beautifully. You're bed is even more comfortable than I thought." Shepard caressed he shoulder as the two just lay there next to each other savoring one another's presence. The Reapers seemed like such a distant and far off threat when Shepard was with Kelly. Shepard didn't know what it was about her, she had this unbelievable optimism, a brightness and warmth that surrounded her. Kelly adjusted her head to face her boyfriend directly into his intense ocean blue eyes that matched her own luminescent emerald green eyes. Kelly saw that her "Andy" was wrapped in a deep thought; being a good psychologist meant that she never stopped reading people; their emotions, body language, and even their facial expressions in order to _pick_ their brains; for lack of a better word. And Shepard was no exception; Kelly only felt it would work best to quietly analyze her hubby. She's seen this facial expression many times before; she had seen it when Garrus first came on board, after his mission on Horizon, and when he quit Cerberus. "Shepard gets this crinkle above his nose, then his jaw tightens; his forehead also creases when he thinks, must be a part of his widow's peak." Kelly thought in a clinical manner. "He also gets this look in his eye, his eyes blaze with a focus, with intensity; it's probably this _inner fire _that compels so many rare and remarkable individuals to ally with him." She thought. She was paralyzed, dumbstruck by the intensity of the commander's gaze. The eyes that have flagged down countless mercenaries, monsters and god only knows what else were now on her, and it felt good. Kelly finally broke the silence with a question; "Sweetheart. What's wrong?" The question obviously caught him off guard as it quickly snapped him back to reality. Shepard shook his head slowly, and made his slight turn to her, as he wondered how to express his thoughts. Finally he opened with a sigh and said "I was just thinking." He said as he reached for her hand. "Oh" Kelly said flirtatiously as she drew herself even closer to him "About what?" she replied softly with a smile. Shepard felt his heart beating faster as she drew her body even closer to his own, her bare breasts pressed gently against his flesh; and her warmth consumed his entire body. She ran her hand lovingly against his chest, occasionally toying with his curly, black chest hair. Shepard then looked into her shimmering emerald eyes and said "I'm just thinking of how lucky I am to have someone as perfect as you in my life." The yeoman's face quickly softened, she was speechless; because despite her ability to read people's emotions she couldn't even tell when someone was in love with her. Kelly's face grew crimson as she silently and intently listened to Andreas. "I've been through a lot these past few years, but when I'm with you I don't think about Elysium, or Eden Prime, or Virmire, or even the Reapers." Andreas paused as he let out another short, quiet sigh "I just think of you." He smiled "And I don't know. Somehow when I'm with you I can feel hopeful again. Like maybe there is a chance for the galaxy." She could feel the tears beginning to build up in her eyes as she tried in vain to hide her emotions "Oh, Andy." She whispered softly

"When I'm with you Kelly" Shepard added "I'm happy, you make me feel like I can do anything. And whatever may come I just wanted to make sure you knew that." He smiled and finished with "I love you Miss Chambers."

Kelly finally allowed herself to release the torrent of emotions that had been up inside of her. Tears rolled down her cheeks, whether from joy or sadness she didn't know and she didn't care either. In one movement Kelly threw her arms around Shepard's neck, her chest rested on his own and without even thinking, drew herself in for a long kiss.

Shepard was taken aback first, but quickly returned her affection as he wrapped his hands around her petite, hourglass figure. He closed his eyes as they continued to lustfully and forcefully kiss. Shepard could feel Kelly's heart beat faster as her tongue happily explored every inch of his mouth. He inhaled the scent of Kelly's silky, strawberry colored hair, it reminded him of lavender and another smell that was unknown to him, but was one he enjoyed just the same. Their embrace was like a vice, as though they were both afraid that if one let go the other would disappear forever.

Time stood still, and after what seemed like hours Kelly finally drew her lips from Shepard's as the two breathlessly stared into each other's eyes. Kelly then released Shepard from her vice like grip and with a crimson face added "Sorry" Shepard sat up and placing his arms on his knees, playfully added "Don't be." Kelly laughed softly at her boyfriend and then mimicking his own posture added, "You should probably see what the Admiral needs Shepard." She stated in an almost disappointed voice. "Good idea." Shepard added as he leapt from the bed, but not before sneaking in a quick kiss on Kelly's cheek.

Shepard quickly fell back into the routine, as he casually walked away from the bed towards the bathroom. Kelly let out a whistle as she stared longingly at Shepard's body. "God even in low lighting he is gorgeous." She thought with a smile. Shepard turned and pointed at her playfully; "To be continued." He said with a smile as he entered the bathroom.

Kelly decided that she had been lounging around long enough and figured she should probably return to work too. "Edi hit the lights please." Kelly stated through a yawn. "Yes Miss Chambers" the AI responded coolly. Kelly scoured the battlefield, all the while picking up the bits and pieces of her wardrobe that littered his quarters. She stopped and smiled when she picked up her shimmering, latex stripper outfit. She was instantly transported to their night together. "Well that merchant on Illium was right when I bought you." Kelly thought happily. "Shepard really couldn't keep his hands off me."


	3. Chapter 3

Prologue: _2100 hours. Shepard's personal cabin. Aprox one day post suicide mission._

__Shepard took a seat on his sofa and let out a sigh of relief. He was tired, even more exhausted than he had been after the siege at Elysium. He crossed his arms behind his head and allowed the back of his head to rest firmly between his palms.

"_That was the __**hardest**__ mission I have had to do so far_." He thought as he propped his legs on top of the coffee table in front of him. "_Still_, _at least I got everyone out alive. I'm glad that everyone is safe, when the Collector's abducted my crew I never thought I would be able to save them. Glad I was wrong._"

Shepard examined his fish tank from afar, quizzically watching the various beautiful multicolored fish dance in front of him.

"I'm glad **she's** safe." He finally admitted under his breath. It was surprising, even to him; how he could develop feelings for someone he barely knew. And even more surprising was that he could develop feelings for someone he barely knew that worked for a well known terrorist group. He thought of his red haired yeoman trapped in one of the Collector's pods; and completely at their mercy. Shepard's hands clenched his legs and his face grew solemn as he remembered that base.

_**The look of horror that slashed across his face when he saw the yeoman trapped in one of their pods. Shepard was more enraged than he had ever been in his life. He slammed his assault rifle against the glass, while his squad worked to free the other victims. He remembered the sharp pain that erupted in his shoulder blade, as the commander struggled with all his strength to rip the insect-like casket open. Then he remembered the relief he had felt when the pod finally yielded to him and the yeoman collapsed into his arms. How he had begged and pleaded with God for Kelly to be alright. He remembered how happy he was when she gasped for air, her eyes widening with horror as she realized how close she was to death. Shepard hadn't hugged someone that hard since he saw his parents after his reconstruction.**_

Bringing himself back to reality he simply shook his head and picked up a data pad that was on his table. He looked at his messages and opened one that was from Kelly. He began to re-read the message again curiously.

"_Hi Honey. I keep thinking of our dinner date that we had a few months ago. Who knew that Rupert could cook so well? =)"_

Even in texts Kelly's exuberant personality flowed through. He continued…

"_And I also keep thinking of you…You saved my life, the entire crew's lives. The first face I saw was yours. You gave me a second chance at life Andy. I really want to thank you for that baby; and I think I know exactly how. I can't say more, (partly because I want you to be surprised and also because you never know who's reading.)…"_

Shepard imagined Miranda reading this message and blushed…

"_All you need to know is that you won't be disappointed. Sleep tight Andy, see you soon. ;)"_

Shepard set the data pad down onto the coffee table, and no sooner had he done so heard the door open. Shepard rose to his feet as a shadowy figure entered his quarters.

"Kelly?" Shepard exclaimed. The commander was shocked by her appearance, but none the less enticed by it. Kelly wore a beautiful, skin tight, magenta outfit; similar to those worn by the female dancers at Omega's nightclub _**Afterlife. **_The suit had an opening in the chest, which allowed her sensuous bust to truly shine through. She had decided to wear thigh high boots, with stiletto pumps attached to the heels, the pumps added a much needed height to the normally petite woman.

Kelly's face was even more radiant than normal. Shepard had always thought she looked gorgeous, even without the light plum eye shadow that she had added to accentuate her dazzling green eyes. She had dressed her lips in a glistening pink lip gloss that made her lips look more enticing and inviting than usual.

Her lips parted into a slight smile, as she walked down the steps towards the commander; who still had yet to say anything. She held a bottle of a rose colored liquid that was contained in an elaborate, ornate bottle in her left hand. The label read _"From the Goddess' lips to your glass, 47 Thessia Red." _While her right hand held two wineglasses.

Kelly walked closer to the commander and asked him in an unsure tone "So?.. What do you think?"

Shepard could hardly think his jaw just stayed open, a stupefied expression on his face. He was speechless; his heart was racing so fast he was surprised she couldn't hear it. "_What do I think?"_ he thought happily. _"You look beautiful, stunning, spectacular, and perfect. OUT LOUD YOU IDIOT, SAY IT OUT LOUD."_ He contemplated hurriedly.

"You don't' like it?" Kelly stated with her uncertain tone now replaced by shame. She averted her eyes in order to avoid further embarrassment, but Shepard quickly placed his hand on her cheek and drew her head in to stare into his azure eyes.

"NO. I. I just.." Shepard stuttered as he spoke trying to keep his composure. "Wow!" he said in a hush. "You look like an Angel." He finally added reassuringly.

Kelly smiled and set down her presents on the table. She then walked seductively towards the commander. Her chest rested on his own, Shepard's breathing slowed, and time stood still while the vixen glided her hands across his uniform and sculpted chest. "I want you, Shepard." She whispered sensually into his ear as she lingered a half a second longer than was needed. And with that she gently pushed the commander onto the sofa. Shepard landed on the sofa; a broad smile began to form on his face. Kelly crawled as nimbly as a cat onto the couch and meandered her way onto the commander's lap. Straddling the commander, the yeoman clasped her hands around his squared jaw. Even through the gloves she could feel the stubble he had acquired from the long night before, while she gently stroked his squared jaw line. She drew her face to his and gently kissed him. Shepard followed her lead happily, and he kissed her pink, sultry lips. Kelly blushed with pleasure and the young woman grasped the commander's hands and brought them to her hips.

Their passionate exchange somehow managed to move from the sofa to Shepard's dresser. Shepard constricted his right arm around her narrow, pear shaped waist, while his left arm held up her leg that had wrapped around his own waist. The holo-panel of the dresser sparked and separated as the two continued to disrupt the interface. A bright, orange light encompassed the two lovers. Kelly wrapped both arms around his neck and moaned in ecstasy as he planted soft, gentle kisses on her neck. She hurriedly removed her gloves, while Shepard attended to the zipper of her corset, both of which were quickly discarded as soon as possible. Their session never stopped for a second, when one was busy removing an article of clothing then the other would continue. Kelly breathlessly laid herself onto the commander's bed. She playfully tossed her flimsy negligee at the now shirtless commander as an invitation. Shepard stood there his bare chest expanding and retracting rapidly as he breathed. Andreas finally smiled and let out an almost feral noise when he collapsed onto the young woman.

Kelly shrieked with laughter as the commander gently kissed and nibbled at her neck affectionately. He raised his head slowly to gaze into his love's mesmerizing emerald eyes, Kelly smiled her beautiful smile. And Kelly; with an innocent and coy expression draped across her face, lowered her head to examine his pants. Kelly adjusted herself so that her right hand could remove them, since her left hand was currently busing itself by stroking his muscular chest. She quickly removed his belt and flung the unwanted appendage across the room. Shepard rushed to remove his pants, all the while never separating more than an inch away from her. After he had removed his pants he just took a moment to truly savor this unbelievable woman that lie beneath him. But Kelly really knew what was going on; Shepard was scared, honestly and truly scared. Kelly remembered him telling her about how he used to have feelings for a woman under his command, an officer named Williams. But when that rogue spectre Saren had a cloning facility on Virmire two years ago, Shepard had to leave Williams behind to detonate the bomb his team had planted. The loss of someone so close to him had ruined him emotionally; he didn't need to say it his eyes told her everything she needed to know. They seemed to be begging with Kelly, asking for her _to let her be his tonight_. Those intense ocean blue eyes melted her heart and touched her deeply, and come what may she knew that there was no one else for her in this galaxy other than Shepard. She smiled and placed her right hand on his face and stroked it affectionately. The red haired beauty then drew him closer to her and planted a gentle, yet passionate kiss on his lips. Shepard finally gave in and allowed himself to melt into his lover's arms, as she tenderly embraced him.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 3: Heed the Call

_Shepard's Cabin: Aprox. Two days post Suicide Mission 0847 hours._

Kelly couldn't help but smile as she looked at her discarded magenta outfit she had worn the night before. "_Well, I guess it's official. You're in love and with the most infamous hero in the galaxy"_ She thought with a satisfied sigh.

The door to the lavatory opened and Shepard exited fully clothed and looking just as alluring as he did in the nude. Kelly walked toward the door as she continued to desperately search for her articles of clothing, which mainly boiled down to her bra so that she could return his bed sheet to its rightful place. Shepard however did not notice Kelly in the corner of his quarters searching, other wise he would have avoided imputing several keystrokes into his private terminal to activate his vidcom. And by the time Kelly had heard the video panel activate all she could do was think _"Oh my God."_ But the panel had already flared up and the Admiral appeared before Shepard in video form; much to the yeoman's horror.

"Commander Shepard. Thank you for your time. I'll keep this-" the graveled voice trailed off and replied "Oh. My apologies Commander, I didn't realize you were entertaining. Would you prefer me to call back at a more convenient time?" Hackett asked respectfully.

Shepard raised a brow at the admiral. He quickly turned his head to face a completely flustered and mortified Kelly, who could only manage to wave embarrassingly at the two men. Shepard simply smiled at her reassuringly and then returned to the admiral. "No sir, I'm completely at your service." Shepard said firmly as he stood at attention.

Kelly hurriedly moved out of the way to prevent embarrassing her "Andy" even more. She made her way to the foot of Shepard's bed and took a seat while she watched the conversation unfold between the two soldiers.

"Shepard the Alliance has a deep cover operative located in Batarian Space, her name's Dr. Amanda Kenson." The admiral added in a matter-of-factly fashion.

Kelly was intimidated by the veteran admiral's appearance; even if he hadn't just caught her half naked and wrapped in the commander's bed sheet. He was a grim man; a large scar ran across his seasoned face. _"He is certainly dressed for his role."_ Kelly thought. Admiral Hackett had on the standard Alliance officer's uniform; which mainly consisted of a navy blue beret, the silver alliance insignia stitched into the front of it. He also wore a navy colored admiral's coat; and its shoulder pads were dressed with several military ribbons of a variety of different colors. Kelly couldn't help but be drawn to the admiral's chest; even from where she was sitting she could see over a dozen different medals that were pinned to his chest. The medals included Palladium Star, several Distinguished Service medals, and even a Star of Terra. He was a truly impressive sight to behold, this battle hardened leader who had no doubt seen more violence and death than even Zaeed. Shepard had told her stories of the Admiral before; back when he was with the Alliance Hackett often came to him with important mission that he knew only Shepard could accomplish. That was probably why he was so forgiving of Kelly and Shepard's off duty activities.

"She recently reported that she had found evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion." The admiral replied in a gruff voice.

"So why call me? Can't you find anyone in the Alliance to do this?" Shepard asked leaning against the bathroom door.

"Because just this morning I received intel that she's been arrested by the Batarians in the nearby colony, officially they claim to be holding her on terrorism charges. Given your interest in the Reapers I thought that this might be worth your time. That's also why I need you; the Normandy's the only ship that can enter the system undetected. I need you to infiltrate the prison complex and get Kenson out of there and as a favor to Me; I'm asking that you do this on alone." Hackett stated grimly.

Kelly's face grew pale. She let out a small gasp as she covered her mouth hoping to contain her fear. _"Hackett wasn't serious was he? He couldn't expect Shepard to go so far behind enemy lines __**without any backup**__?"_ She felt sick listening to the admiral, she hadn't been this scared since the Collector's had abducted her, and it wasn't even her life that was in danger right now.

Shepard must have heard or seen her concern because he gave Kelly a look; a look that said _"Don't worry, let me ask if I __**have to **__go alone."_

"I have a hell of a squad sir; I know they'd be more than willing to help out." Shepard spoke firmly to the admiral.

The Admiral shook his head almost immediately and answered instantly "Dr. Kenson is my friend Commander. If the Batarians see a squad of armed soldiers go in they'll kill her. This is serious Shepard, go in with discretion or don't go at all." The veteran added sternly.

Shepard proceeded to make further inquiries about the overall specs of the mission; who the operative was, why she was being charged with terrorism, and the possible political ramifications that the mission might bring to the Alliance. Of course that was only the bare minimum that Kelly was able to extract from the conversation between the two men. She was too distracted by her concern for Shepard's safety to provide her full attention to the matters being discussed.

After what seemed like hours Shepard finally told the Admiral that he accepted the mission and that he would make the mater a priority. Hackett gave a slight smile and a nod of approval, and told Shepard "Once you have Kenson investigate her data and confirm whether or not we have a Reaper invasion on our hands. I'll debrief you both when you return to Arcturus Station."

"Got it." Shepard replied with a nod.

"Be careful in there Shepard, Hackett out." And with that the screen faded back to its normal display of Shepard's model ship collection.

Shepard walked away from his desk slowly, which completely contradicted Kelly's frantic sprint to his side. Kelly stood there not even caring about her nudity anymore, and the two just looked into each others eyes neither one saying a word. Kelly finally broke the silence with a hug as she ran to Shepard and flung her arms around him. Shepard could hear her trying to hold back tears, while he did his best to comfort her. "You can't go Shepard, you'll…You just can't go. It's too dangerous." Kelly spoke softly through flooded eyes.

"Kelly-" Shepard whispered affectionately while he gingerly stroked her back.

"I know you've taken on suicide missions before but this is too risky, the Batarians could catch you, or you could get injured or even…" Kelly spoke while she clung to him even tighter.

"Kelly-" Shepard reiterated but still could not get a word in edge wise.

"I mean I know you're good enough to go in alone, but if I lost you I… I don't know what I'd-" Kelly was interrupted when Shepard placed his right index finger on her lips and gave her a calming shush.

"Kelly…" Shepard spoke with a calm and loving voice. "What's wrong Babe?" he asked with boyish voice and a warm smile.

Kelly gave him a flustered look and felt like she wanted to hit him. But she couldn't keep herself from laughing at his obvious and poor attempts at consolation, which to her surprise had actually made her feel better. "Dammitt Shepard." Kelly said with a smile "You're better than I am at soothing people."

Shepard pulled her close and stared into her entrancing emerald eyes. He smiled happily and gently rested his forehead on hers and whispered "Well, I had an amazing teacher."

Kelly lifted her head and placed a gentle kiss on his eager lips. Shepard explained in a comforting voice "I know you're worried about me, and believe me it's one of the many reasons I love you. But please Red try not to worry so much. I have some one pretty amazing to come back to. Besides Kelly I already died once, and to tell you the truth it kinda sucked." He added with a warm smile that made her melt on the inside. Kelly chuckled and rolled her eyes at another of her "Andy's" bad jokes, but she appreciated his bad jokes none the less. Kelly gave him a sly smile and clasped his hands in hers. "You'd better come back to me." The red haired yeoman spoke while she gently massaged his hands with her finger tips.

"That an order Ms. Chambers?" Shepard drew his face in for another kiss. To which she happily obliged.

"That's an order Commander" Kelly replied in a whisper as she closed the distance between them and kissed him tenderly on the lips. Shepard closed his eyes and relaxed as Kelly's tongue gently massaged his. They separated after a full minute of breathless ecstasy, much to the commander's disappointment.

Kelly reluctantly released his hands and watched quietly as her boyfriend entered the elevator. Shepard gave her one last hungry glance and gave her a sly smile. He brought his hand to the elevator panel and entered the location for the Combat Information Center. Kelly however, would have to meet up with him later; since she still had to look for her bra.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 4: Bon Voyage 

_Combat Information Center: Two days post suicide mission 0900 hours._

Kelly exited the elevator fully clothed several minutes later. She was dressed in a standard issue black and white Cerberus uniform; which she had to borrow from Shepard's closet, since her own uniform was currently collecting dust on the crew deck. Although out of respect for Shepard she; along with many of Shepard's crew members, had removed the gold insignia of their former employer from the uniform.

Kelly herself could hardly believe the true nature of the Illusive Man. She had always believed that Cerberus looked out for humanity, but to want to preserve that base was nothing short of madness.

But Kelly didn't allow herself dwell on the subject another second longer. What had to be done was done; Shepard never conformed to the Illusive Man's whims and he had stuck to his beliefs. Shepard destroyed the base and made sure that that much power never fell into the wrong hands.

Kelly approached the orange holo-terminal and booted it up. "_I think that's what I admire about Shepard the most."_ Kelly thought warmly as she waited for the log in screen to appear on her console. "_He always fights for what he believes in, never willing to compromise himself or others to achieve his goals, yet always ready to give his life for a cause worth dying for." _Kelly's console gave her several short, high pitched beeps to let her know it was ready for use.

The red haired yeoman reluctantly broke her train of thought in order to focus on the tasks at hand. Kelly examined the psyche profiles of the surviving crew for any signs of PTSD that may have been brought on by their recent brush with death at the hands of the Collectors. Fortunately, most of the crew was just happy to know that they could return to their families and that the Collectors had been wiped clean from this galaxy once and for all. Kelly did feel some remorse at the loss of an entire species, but from what Shepard had told her there was no other way. The Collectors; or Prothean husks rather, were nothing more than slaves. Empty shells no longer capable of independent or sentient thought, and to allow the Collectors to continue their existence would have been a cruel injustice. Shepard had shown mercy by setting them free.

Again Kelly had allowed herself to wander off on a tangent; she shook her head lightly to shrug off her thought. It was a nasty habit that she had developed in college during her late study nights alone in her dorm. Going off on her tangents was a way for her to examine an issue thoroughly and gave her the best perspective on all the answers. It was those "tangent" thoughts that let her graduate at the top of her class with a PHD in psychology and a major in neurological science, so perhaps they weren't so bad after all.

Kelly gave a quick cursory glance over the Commander's messages to see if there were any messages that required his immediate attention. His private messages terminal only had a few new messages in it. She scrolled down the screen and examined each of the messages in succession. The first message was from his friend Dr. T' Soni , she wanted to ask Shepard what had happened on the Collector base and also wanted to pass on some information in regards to Cerberus to him.

Then there was a message that managed to secure her full interest; it was from his mother Hannah; and the letter's subject heading read "_Who's Kelly?" _Kelly's face grew crimson as she debated with herself on whether she should open the letter. And embarrassingly enough Kelly decided to give into temptation and she opened the message with barely contained excitement.

"_Hi Andreas,_

_How are you doing Hon'? I hope you've been keeping safe out there. Your father and I miss you very much and we are looking forward to seeing you again once all this mess is cleared up. And speaking of your dad, he tells me the last time you two spoke on the Citadel a few months ago that you told him you have a girlfriend named Kelly? I'm so happy for you Andy, from what your father said it seems like you really love her. I can't wait to meet her she sounds like a very nice girl. Anyway I should probably wrap this up, message dad or me when you have a minute; oh and please take care of yourself out there. We would hate to lose our son a second time. And keep doing what you're doing; you make us both very proud Andy!_

_ Love,_

_ Mom_

_P.S. Please tell Kelly I said hello."_

Kelly smiled as she closed the message, taking extra care to thoroughly cover her tracks to avoid suspicion. Kelly raised her head when she heard Joker's voice come over the intercom.

"Fifteen minutes out to the planet Aratoht Commander." The pilot'svoice echoed through the CIC.

"_Well, this is it."_ Kelly thought nervously while she pretended to work. _"Shepard's going to walk into Hell again, with no guarantee of returning."_ Kelly let out a quiet sigh and rubbed her left arm nervously. _"Be strong Kelly, Andreas needs you."_

As soon as she had finished her thought the door to the armory opened with an unsettling hiss. Shepard emerged armed to the teeth. He was wearing his blue modified N7 armor. It was still scratched up from the suicide mission and had Collector blood smeared all along the chest and arm pieces. Shepard raised his M-96 Mattock assault rifle to eye level and busied himself with adjusting the large rifle's precision scope when he entered the CIC.

"_Shepard has so many weapons." _ Kelly thought in awe; An M-5 Phalanx, an M-4 Shuriken machine pistol, an M-22 Eviscerator shotgun, and even an M-97 Viper sniper rifle. Shepard looked like he was ready for war.

Shepard looked lowered his rifle and raised his head to speak to the cockpit. "Joker tell the shuttle pilot to prep the shuttle, I'm heading down there now." Shepard holstered his assault rifle to the magnetic lock on his left shoulder blade and made his way to the elevator.

"Aye-Aye." Joker replied obediently.

"You sure you got enough clips Shepard" Arms specialist Jacob Taylor asked while he gestured to Shepard to hand an additional pack of clips to his CO.

"Thanks Jacob, but don't worry I'll be fine." Shepard took the case and offered him a smile as he entered the elevator. Kelly looked at the elevator and without even thinking rushed inside to accompany Shepard to the shuttle bay. Jacob Taylor gave Shepard a look of surprise, but just chuckled to himself while he made his way back to the armory. Kelly didn't care if the whole galaxy knew about her and Shepard and evidently neither did Shepard; since he placed his gloved hand on her shoulder and patted it lightly.

The elevator doors shut and the two descended to shuttle bay. Kelly and Shepard simply stood there quietly; both were hoping the other would acknowledge the elephant in the room. Shepard decided that he had to break the tension and turned his head to face Kelly's "I'll be fine Kelly, you have nothing to worry about. You'll see, I'm gonna come back safe and sound." Shepard spoke softly to her.

Kelly smiled and nodded at him. She knew Shepard would come back to her, much to her own surprise she was beginning to adjust to him placing his life in constant danger twenty-four hours a day. She placed her hand in his gloved hand and their fingers intertwined as she gripped his hand tightly for the remainder of the ride. Even through the nano-fiber material she could feel the warmth emanating from his flesh. Shepard placed his head on hers while the two just enjoyed the stillness and tranquility from their quiet elevator ride. It took every bit of Kelly's restraint in order to keep herself from pressing the emergency stop button, tearing Shepard's armor off, along with her own clothes and ravishing him right then and there.

Unfortunately her desires were cut short when the elevator reached the cargo bay. The doors opened revealing a very disgruntled Grunt, whom was busing himself by rummaging through a few scorched crates left over from their fight with that Reaper Oculus.

"Unbelievable!" The large beast shouted in a loud, and rage filled voice as he pulled out destroyed bags of pyjak and varren meat that Shepard had brought from the merchant on Tuchanka. "So much for my damn snack." The krogan boomed and threw the burnt food products against the wall in disappointment.

Shepard smiled at Kelly while the two walked towards the shuttle. "Sorry about your chow Grunt; I'll have Joker swing by the Krogan DMZ later so we can get you some more ok?"

Grunt raised his head and spoke happily to Shepard "Thank you Battle Master." Shepard gave him a pat on the shoulder pad of his silver armor as Grunt walked off. But not before the large beast nodded respectfully towards Kelly, to which she returned with a warm smile. The hulking creature entered the elevator and the doors closed.

Kelly looked at Shepard and with a smile of disbelief said "You know I actually think he's gotten a lot better Shepard. I'm a little ashamed to admit I used to be afraid of him." Shepard smiled at her comment and made his way to the shuttle's hatch. He banged on the outside of the massive shuttle with his fist and after a few moments returned his attention to Kelly.

"Grunt's not so bad once you get to know him, well so long as you act tough around him." The shuttle's door opened a few seconds later and Shepard stepped inside. He then turned to face her green eyes and let out a loving smile. Kelly stepped a few feet back in preparation for the shuttle's departure.

"Good luck out there Andy!" Kelly exclaimed lovingly as she blew a kiss to her love. Shepard mimicked plucking her kiss from the air. Kelly smiled as she rushed off to the elevator and heard the shuttle's large doors slam shut.

She walked to the window overlooking the cargo bay and heard the loud slam of the Normandy's drop hatch opening. And within a few minutes the shuttle came alive and was released into the darkness of space. Kelly waited and watched as the shuttle bay's hatch slowly closed shut and the room was re-pressurized. _"Yeah, good luck …"_ Kelly thought nervously. 


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 5: Into the Belly of the Beast

_Planet Arahtot, Bahak system. Two days post Suicide mission. 0930 hours_

"We're approaching the LZ Commander." The shuttle pilot said over the intercom. Shepard raised himself from his seat and proceeded to the door. The UT-47 Kodiak shuttle touched down on the soft mud of the outskirts of the prison, and Shepard withdrew his assault rifle as he waited for the shuttle to open. "No gunfire, no alarms, guess we entered off their radar." Shepard thought relieved. The shuttle door let out a low hiss as its door opened revealing the decrepit scenery in front of him. Shepard combat rolled out of the shuttle and made several quick turns to the right and left side; in case any lingering guards were around. The area was old, at least by a couple decades; rusted pipes and crates lay riddled about the area haphazardly, their contents soaked by the recent rainfall. Shepard dismissed the shuttle pilot and made his way to the door to his left.

Shepard noticed the door was locked. He could've tried to find an alternate route; but that would take hours, time he did not have. "_There must be a way inside_." Shepard thought as he walked to the right side of the door, and explored every crevice and crack that he could feel along the old door.

"Bingo!" Shepard exclaimed with a satisfied smirk. The door's security panel had come loose, probably from its age and condition. Shepard activated his omni took and entered several key sequences on it to bypass the exposed circuitry. His omni-tool glared a bright orange and the door yielded to him. He entered the room slowly, and quickly scanned the hall way for hostiles. "_This place has seen better days._" Shepard mused as he crept along the grim and sludge covered hallways of the rundown facility.

Shepard stopped short of a large gap in the floor, approximately six feet across. Bits of wire and steel lay exposed around it, like bones out of an old wound. Shepard walked closer to examine it closer; the gap was too long to traverse, especially with all the gear he was wearing. "_There has to be a way around_" Shepard took a few quick glances around to see if he could find something. "_Wait_." Shepard thought as he examined an overturned control panel. "_The Batarians must've installed a bridge. That's how I can get across._" Shepard tried to activate the panel; but all that it did was activate the bridge for a few precious seconds, before it spat out sparks and died. "_So much for that idea._" He thought as he discarded the useless circuitry. But then he noticed another power cable that fed into the bridge, which meant that the bridge had an auxiliary control panel located somewhere close by. Shepard turned around and noticed a hallway that lay adjacent to the bridge. He made his way towards the hallway and proceeded inside the winding hallway to a deck directly below the floor above him. Shepard stopped at the end of the hallway and peered around the wall, Shepard immediately spotted the auxiliary control panel located underneath the hole; it was fully powered and ready for use. Unfortunately his prize was guarded by a varren, which was currently busing itself by feasting on a fresh human corpse. "Great, well maybe I can sneak past him before he…" Too late, the beast was already made aware to his presence before he could even finish his thought. The creature snarled and slimy, white foam poured from its mouth as it charged towards him. Shepard unholstered his Shuriken machine pistol just in the nick of time and firing off a few shots; brought the creature to the ground dead, in a pool of its own blood. Shepard replaced his gun to his weapon belt and stepped over the creature's limp and lifeless body to examine the control panel. But he couldn't help but notice the corpse that the animal was feeding on. At first glance it looked like any other human corpse. The face was stripped of almost all its flesh; the nose was half eaten and its sunken eyes stared lifelessly at Shepard. Out of respect Shepard closed them gently. He then noticed a familiar symbol that instantly filled him with dread. He ripped the patch on the sleeve of the corpse's tattered clothing and examined it closely. Even coated in blood Shepard could still recognize the Alliance insignia. The corpse's service tag read "Lt. Myers, Franklin; "_Must've been apart of 's team. I guess the Batarians send their prisoners down here to die. I have to find now._" Shepard unholstered his assault rifle and pressed the button lighting the bridge above him. Finally he could cross the gap in the floor. Shepard had passed the bridge and made his way along the deluded hallway of the prison.

Shepard turned the corner and saw another varren scurry out of sight before he could take a shot at it. Shepard cautiously moved on and eventually came to another hallway which was blocked by a laser grid. "_Must be some kind of security grid to prevent escapes_." He figured. A loud bark interrupted his thoughts and the commander raised his weapon to sight down on an approaching varren. But the creature was sliced to bloody ribbons when it tried to pass through the laser grid. "_So much for it being just a laser grid._" Shepard thought as he traversed the hallway.

Shepard heard voices, and immediately flung himself along a wall overlooking another laser grid. He held his breath as he listened to the conversation being held on the other side of the wall. "Take the human for questioning." The voice said. Shepard heard scuffling, like one of their prisoners was fighting back. Then he heard a woman's voice "Get your damned hands off of me!" "Shut up!" the first voice screamed which was then was followed by pained screams.

Shepard's eyes narrowed, "_That must be Kenson, and from the sound of it she doesn't have much time. I need to move._" He thought as he ran down the hallway towards a door.

Shepard entered another dim and grimy hallway. "_Great this place is a labyrinth; by the time I get to Kenson she'll be dead_." Shepard stopped a wall of debris that cut of his advance. "Damitt." Shepard uttered as he pushed against the huge slabs of concrete and stone that clogged the hallway. But it was no use; the chunks of debris would not budge. "I'm too close to turn back and try another exit. There has to be a way-" Shepard stopped, he heard something. He looked up and saw a pipe that was bleeding gas a few inches above the debris. "_Perfect_." He thought as he took cover on a nearby wall. Unholstering his phalanx heavy pistol, Shepard took aim at the pipe hoping that the explosion would dislodge the debris so he could move on. His pistol exploded with a deafening blast; the bullet flew with immeasurable speed and impacted the pipe; which resulted in an explosion that proved just powerful enough to loosen the debris enough for Shepard to bypass.

Holstering his pistol Shepard continued on through the prison. Suddenly the pipes above him exploded; flames and shrapnel shot out in all directions. His shields burst with a bright, blue light as he rolled forward to avoid the roaring fires the pipes belched out. Shepard drew out his shotgun as he landed thinking someone must've heard the explosion. But the hallway was still clear "Good thing my shields took most of the punishment." He thought relieved as he got up off his knee. A bright blue light enveloped him as his suits shields repaired themselves; a final beep told him he was ready to move on. Shepard looked behind him and saw that the hallway behind him was consumed in flames. "Guess there's no going back now."

**~o~**

_**Planet Arahtot, Bahak system. Two days post Suicide mission. 1015 hours**_

A door opens slowly; the barrel of a Mattock assault rifle peaks in to investigate. A quick turn to the left and to the right and Shepard entered the room. It looked like a guard post Shepard thought as he examined his surroundings.

Shepard spotted a narrow staircase and he crept slowly along the room's wall. He was in the enemy's territory now; and being discovered this early would mean that the Batarians would have a reason to kill the Dr. Shepard stopped dead in his tracks at the apex of the stairs; voices, two of them. He aimed his rifle at the direction of the sounds but no one emerged. So he listened to the conversation taking place behind the wall.

"That Human and her team wanted to slam an asteroid into the Mass Relay." One voice spoke.

"Could they even do that?" The other responded in an unsure tone.

"I don't know what difference it makes we caught them." The 1st voice responded confidently.

Shepard moved along the wall and up another flight of stairs before he made it to another door. He could smell rain, and sure enough the door led him outside to a large courtyard. Several trucks and barrels were strewn about the place. Wet slippery moss coated the rock walls and ground below him.

Shepard looked around the corner cautiously and saw a watchman stationed across from him on the uppermost balcony of the area. "shit." Shepard muttered under his breath. But the guard looked inattentive as he shifted in place. The guard moved his head from Shepard's position to a control panel to his left. This gave Shepard the much needed opportunity to take cover behind a low flung railing. Shepard lay silent on his back, rifle at the ready. "This spot might give me some shelter if that guard has an assault rifle, but won't do me any good if he has a sniper rifle." He thought nervously as he poked his head ever so slightly over the railing to examine the guard. Fortunately the guard activated the door panel he was examining and proceeded inside the building. Shepard moved up as quickly and quietly as he could in order to avoid detection. Shepard took cover behind a parked truck and examined his surroundings quickly. The only entrance to the main facility was the door he had seen the guard enter a few minutes ago. However the path ahead of him was blocked by crates, while the path beside him held two guards conversing about how useless it was to interrogate a human. Shepard caught a glimpse of another of those red security lasers he'd run into in the caves, only this time it connected to a railing. Shepard looked around hoping it was powered by a switch; and after a few moments of searching located his prize. Sure enough a few feet away from him was a panel that fed directly into the laser grid. He deactivated the panel and with it the security grid and continued on.

Entering the building Shepard came across another guard post. Except this one was occupied; two guards were present. One wielded a shotgun, and the other only sported an automatic pistol. The guards were too busy debating on whether a Mass Relay could be destroyed to hear him run past them. Suddenly a voice came over the PA system, Shepard threw himself against a corner and waited; assault rifle at the ready.

"There's a shuttle incoming! Clear the hanger bay." The voice announced.

"Perfect." Shepard thought happily. "Once I have Kenson we can come back to the hangar and use one of their shuttles to escape." Shepard walked along the catwalk and entered a door at the far end, leaving the shuttle and his exit behind him.

Shepard came across the final security gate, and he could hear the guards on the other side argue about killing Kenson. She apparently was in the same area that Shepard was in. Once the security grid was down; Shepard moved as quietly possible towards the interrogation room. He placed himself against the wall to the right of the door and heard the guard talk to Kenson.

"Just tell us why you wanted to blow up the Relay and we'll make sure your death is quick and painless. It's really a good deal for you when you think about it." The guard mocked with a cold chuckle.

"Go to Hell." Kenson replied bitterly to her captor's demands.

The guard was too wrapped up in torturing Kenson to hear Shepard enter the room. "You're going to wish you had taken my offer." The guard replied coldly.

The guard turned his attention to his omni tool and activated something in the ceiling. A metal arm-like protrusion snaked its way out; the tip of the machine split open and electricity spouted from it as it inched closer to Kenson's face. Shepard knew it was now or never. The commander input a few codes into his own omni-tool and unsheathed his holographic blade; its loud sheath was fortunately muffled by the torture machine's own noise. Shepard made a lung forward and impaled his blade between the guard's shoulder blades; and straight through his chest. He made sure to hold onto the guard's neck to ensure that the blade sunk as deep as possible. The guard let out a low gasp for air as purple blood spilled from his new wound. His body went limp and Shepard deactivated his blade. Shepard tossed the guard to the floor and moved in to release Kenson. The doctor's uniform was coated in purple smears from the recent attack and she looked at him with curiosity.

"Who are you?" She asked breathlessly "What do you want?" The gray haired woman added as she regained her composure.

Shepard calmly strolled over to the torture chair's control panel and began to deactivate her restraints with his omni-tool. "Dr. Kenson. The name's Commander Shepard, I'm here to rescue you." He did his best to try and reassure her.

Kenson's expression changed from curiosity to shock as she slowly began to recognize him. And the doctor exclaimed happily "Shepard? Oh, I heard you were alive. I take it you being here means that Hackett received my messages?"

Shepard entered the final keys into his omni-tool and the chair's arm restraints unlocked. "It isn't safe to talk Doc', you hurt?" Shepard asked with a concerned tone.

As soon as the restraints unlocked Kenson stumbled forward wearily. She shook her head and answered calmly, "I'm fine." She ran her right hand across her forehead "Just give me a minute."

Shepard retrieved the dead soldier's side arm and handed it to her "We don't have time to stay, we need to go." Shepard stated with urgency.

She took the weapon and examined it closely "If you can get me to a security panel I can hack into the Batarian's systems and find us a way out."

Shepard remembered the shuttle he had left behind earlier in the hangar bay. "Does that mean you could hack into a shuttle? I found one earlier in the hangar bay." Kenson nodded, but before she could get a chance to reply an alarm began to fill the room. Shepard could hear footsteps out side the room they were in.

"I'll get you to the hangar bay." Shepard added as he leaned against the wall closest to the door; readying for the coming assault.

Kenson pulled back on her pistol and ejected a used thermal clip; the glowing shell fell to the ground, and a cloud of smoke enveloped the weapon. It made a small beeping noise to alert the user it was ready to fire. Kenson turned to face Shepard and said "Ready." Shepard nodded and readied his shotgun as the door opened.

**~O~**

_**Planet Arahtot, Bahak system. Two days post Suicide mission. 1045 hours**_

Shepard and Kenson moved throughout the facility killing any guard that stood between them and their objective. Eventually they made their way to the prison transfer level; it was a large spherical chamber, with several interlaced elevators and piping fixtures, with a large central elevator in the middle.

After the room was clear of hostile targets Kenson spoke to Shepard hurriedly. "There's a control console in the back of the room, if I can hack it we can take the elevator in the center of the room up. It connects with the ground floor of the hangar bay. Just keep the guards off of me."

Shepard nodded in response, but before he could reply she screamed in frustration. "Dammitt! The door we came in is still open. You have to get it closed before they over run our position."

Shepard made a mad dash for the door, but by then it was too late. Three guards had already arrived and opened fire on him as soon as he got close enough. He rolled into a low flung pipe system in front of him as his shields glared from the heavy fire. A round from a vindicator assault rifle nailed him square in the chest, almost knocking out his shields.

Shepard leaned out of cover and with a few shots from his mattock assault rifle; he killed the guard closest to the door. The soldier's helmet exploded in a cloud of blood and he fell to the ground in a slump. The guard behind the murdered soldier tried to take a few shots at Shepard with his predator pistol, but he missed. Shepard however had better aim, and put a round clean through the guard's leg; and a loud crack from a freshly shattered tibia met his ears. The Batarian screamed in anguish and fell to the ground clutching his leg to stop the blood from spilling out of his fresh wound; since he was unable to move. The final guard hit Shepard in his shoulder with a few bursts from his submachine gun; but Shepard managed to recover quick enough to put seven shots into his chest. And the guard flew back and landed on the ground, dead. Shepard ran forward and shut the door just as six more guards showed up.

"Shepard the guards are coming up the elevators, they're on the other side of the room!" Kenson said to him over the intercom. Shepard ran over to the other side to pick off the oncoming guards from the upper floor, but the guards had already arrived and were geared up for a hard fight. Five guards reached the top of the floor; two shot gunners, a sniper, a grenadier, and their leader who was sporting a large Revenant machine gun. Shepard ducked behind a railing to avoid the incoming fire. He slapped the side of his rifle and ejected a thermal clip so that he could re-engage the new threat.

"_That sniper's the real danger._" He thought as he barely poked his eyes from behind his position. The shotguns moved in closer to Shepard, while their leader kept him suppressed with his heavy machine gun. The sniper however was waiting behind them, keeping his eyes focused on Shepard in case the commander tried to move.

Shepard withdrew his phalanx pistol and equipped the armor piercing rounds Garrus had given to him. "Sure hope these are worth the money." Shepard thought as he gripped his pistol. Shepard made a quick roll out of cover and aimed his sidearm at the sniper; who was already aiming his viper sniper rifle at him. Shepard quickly squeezed the trigger and sent a round right through the marksman's helmet. The back of the rifleman's helmet erupted in a slurry of purple, his skull and brain fragments painted the wall behind him.

"KILL HIM! Shotguns move up! Fire on him!" Their leader spoke angrily. The shot gunner's unloaded shell after shell at the exposed commander. His shields were failing and he could already feel the rounds through his armor. Shepard made a roll away from them and withdrew his shuriken and phalanx; and he aimed both of his weapons at the two gunmen. The pistols fired simultaneously as the guard's screamed in pain. The phalanx hit the first gunner in the chest and purple mist spout out from the wound, and the guard was knocked on his ass, dead. The other gunner was painted by the shuriken's automatic rate of fire and he doubled over in pain, and was dead several seconds later.

The grenadier now had a clear shot at Shepard and took the opportunity to wail on the commander with his grenade launcher. Shepard ducked behind the nearest piece of available cover to avoid the full brunt of the blast; but to no avail. The round from the launcher shattered his shields, and molten shrapnel punctured his leg.

Shepard screamed in agony and got as low to the ground as possible to avoid the other grenades being fired at him. Blood was dripping to the ground; his leg and armor had been slashed pretty deep. Shepard inhaled sharply as his suit administered morphine to alleviate the searing pain that clawed at his leg.

Shepard placed his index finger to his ear and screamed "Kenson! How much longer is this gonna take." He yelled through clenched teeth.

She replied in an irritated manner "Just a few more minutes." His suit beeped loudly and his shields were fully restored. But the grenadier still had him suppressed with a storm of grenades.

The grenadier laughed loudly "Come on human! Just poke your head out so I can blow it off!"

"That's one idea" the commander thought angrily. Shepard grabbed a flash-bang grenade that Kasumi had researched for him. "Jacob and Kasumi said that these would work. Sure hope he was right!" Shepard thought as he tossed the grenade high up into the air towards the heavy.

The grenade let out a deafening bang; bright light surrounded the grenadier and his leader, and they both screamed in pain. Shepard moved out of cover and fired a full clip of rounds from his Mattock at the stunned grenadier. The heavy weapons specialist was knocked back, as shot after shot pushed him back; until he was close enough to the ledge that one last shot sent him screaming over the edge to his death.

"Just you and me then swine!" The Batarian leader screamed as he fired his machine gun at Shepard. Shepard made a move to cover and fired back in retaliation; and the Batarian captain's shields flared as the commander's bullets smacked against his armor.

The Batarian captain ducked to avoid further damage. He input a few keys into his omni-tool and fired a shield piercing round directly at Shepard.

Shepard cried out in pain and withdrew himself behind his cover; the round had hit him in the shoulder and he clutched it tightly as blood soaked his armor.

The captain moved forward in an attempt to finish him off, but Shepard was ready for him. The commander pulled out his shotgun and fired an incendiary blast at the bewildered captain.

The shot killed the guard instantly and burned him to a crisp; leaving nothing behind but ashes. "Done! Shepard let's move!" Kenson walked past Shepard and stepped onto the elevator that just arrived. The commander followed her, if only barely. His suit had administered first-aid to stop the bleeding in his leg, but he still felt a raw stinging sensation in his shoulder and knee as he limped onto the platform. The elevators gears made a loud grinding noise while they ascended.

"Kenson are you sure you can hack into one of their shuttles?" Shepard asked through clenched teeth.

"Yes I downloaded their over-ride codes for the shuttle bay door and their shuttle locks, all I need is a clear path." Kenson replied. The elevator reached the top and immediately the two came under heavy fire. Another group of Batarians fired at the two and they ran for cover behind a truck.

Shepard grabbed a Batarian by the arm that was stupid enough to take cover on the same truck. Shepard drew out his omni-blade; and with a huge thrust, impaled the guard through his helmet. Two more guards focused fire on the commander, but Kenson shot and killed one with her Carnifex pistol. The other guard got a stomach full of Mattock rounds and toppled over with a gurgling noise.

More guards would be coming soon and the two needed to get going fast. Shepard looked around frantically for anything to help open the door to the hangar bay. "Dammitt! They must keep the hangar bay control panel on the upper level!" Shepard spoke angrily

"Wait a moment Shepard, the doors locks are running off a pressurized gas system." Kenson spoke happily

"You're right." Shepard aimed his pistol at one of the doors locking mechanisms and put several bullets into it. The lock shot out gas and fire; soon after the lock exploded, opening the door slightly.

"Just one more lock Shepard!" Kenson said. And with one more shot from his Phalanx he destroyed the last lock and the two boarded the shuttle. Kenson typed a few keys into the shuttle's control panel and activated the auto pilot to initiate the launch.

"Don't let them escape!" Shepard heard a Batarian scream; but it didn't matter. The shuttle had already risen in the air and adjusted itself to face the open hangar bay. A bright stream of fire belched from its engine and ignited the guards that had tried to stop them. The shuttle bay shot off into the midnight sky and disappeared from sight. Shepard had saved Kenson.

**~O~**

_**Outer atmosphere, planet Arahtot; Bahak system. Two days post Suicide mission. 1207 hours**_

"Thank you Shepard, I appreciate all of your help." Kenson said as she walked from the cockpit towards the commander. The two had been traveling in that shuttle for at least an hour. And by now the two were a good enough distance away from the planet. "We should be well enough away from the planet by the time they can bring their security network back online."

Shepard raised a brow "But won't they come after you?" he asked in a calm manner.

"I'm not taking any chances; the Batarians do not take kindly to humans that plan on blowing up their mass relays." Kenson replied and took a seat in the chair across from him, and Shepard narrowed his eyes at her.

"So the charges against you really are true?" He said accusingly. But the gray haired woman only placed her hand against her mouth while she formulated her rebuttal.

"Well to be fair Commander that's about half the story." Kenson sat up and walked over to the shuttle's window to stare at the Bahak system's relay; the enormous object's luminescent blue light filled the shuttle. "My team and I were dispatched into this system to examine the outskirts for any possible connections to the Reapers." Kenson spoke calmly and clearly with a slight inflection from her English heritage.

Shepard clasped his jaw between his index finger and thumb and asked "But why would Hackett send your team out here into Batarian space? Why not someplace like Far Rim? Or the Perseus Veil, both systems close to dark space." Kenson shook her head.

"This was easier Shepard. For starters Far Rim's constant proton storms and lack of habitable planets make long term investigation impossible; and while the Veil may be on the outer edges of the galaxy, it is still largely controlled by the Geth. And with their superior technology they would've discovered us far too quickly for my tastes." Kenson added "Even still the Bahak system; at least according to our studies, is technically closer to dark space than any other system."

Shepard nodded "So I take it your team found something?" Kenson continued to stare out the window and swiftly responded.

"My team and I discovered proof that the Reapers will enter this system in two days; and by using the Bahak system's relay…" Kenson paused to inhale a short breath "The Reapers will use the relay to invade anywhere in the galaxy." Shepard stood up to join her.

"So you decided to destroy it?" Shepard sighed

"Exactly" Kenson answered with a confident smile. "Without the Alpha relay it would take the Reapers months or even years before they could make it to another relay; even at FTl speeds." Kenson continued "My team and I came up with what we called _The Project…_"

"_How Original." _Shepard thought sarcastically and continued to listen to her.

"It involves moving one of Arahtot's nearby asteroids and launching it directly into the relay. However the explosion would; in all likelihood, obliterate the entire system."

"Why would you say that?" Shepard asked

"Mass relays are some of the most powerful mass effect engines in the known galaxy. And if one were destroyed; then the energy that was released from the explosion would theoretically resemble a super nova. "Kenson responded without missing a step and his eyes widened in shock. "This is a remote system, but just over 300,000 Batarians live on the colony where you retrieved me. The explosion would more than likely kill everyone on the colony." She added.

Shepard stole a quick look at the relay, and returned to Kenson. "But I've heard relays are indestructible." Kenson let out a sigh and used the back of her hand to wipe a few beads of sweat that rolled down her wrinkled cheek.

"I heard that too, but I think that it's more likely that no one wants to find out what happens when one is destroyed." She stated and drawing a second breath added "Besides we plan on slamming a rock the size of a small planet into the thing at extremely high speeds; by my calculations that should prove more than sufficient."

"So your project is still operational?" Shepard asked. Kenson reclined in her chair and replied.

"I imagine so; my research team and I were only one button press away when the Batarians captured us."

Suddenly Shepard had a thought; between all gun fights and her explanation of the Alliance's plans he'd forgotten to ask. "How exactly did you learn of all this, the _invasion_ I mean." Kenson crossed her arms and legs and added.

"There was an artifact on the asteroid; it must've been there for over a millennia. Its signatures matched the pieces of Sovereign that were recovered from the Citadel two years ago. When I touched it I saw visions of the invasion. Similar to what you experienced when you interfaced with the Prothean device on Eden Prime. When we debrief with Hackett's team at Arcturus I'll provide full details of the artifact, as well as any pertinent research on the upcoming invasion. "

Shepard's eyes once again narrowed in on her; he felt sick to his stomach. She had uncovered a Reaper artifact; and even worse she had touched it. Shepard thought back to the Reaper artifact he had encountered on Aquietas; it indoctrinated the entire mining team that was stationed on the planet and made them into husks. Shepard finally broke the question with a question that he knew needed to be asked. "Kenson. If you have been working that closely with a Reaper artifact, then how have you and your team avoided **indoctrination?**" A sour look consumed his normally pleasant face. She nodded in agreement at his concern over the possibility of indoctrination.

"We've been very cautious Shepard, I saw what Saren and Sovereign did at the Citadel. Trust me I understand the risks." That wasn't the answer that he wanted; even more disturbing was that Kenson had sidestepped the question almost deliberately.

Shepard felt even more uneasy and stated "The stakes are too high. If your team has proof about the Reapers I want to see it." He said sternly.

"I suppose I can't argue with your logic commander." Kenson placed her index finger on her ear piece to establish communications with her research team. "Kenson to project base, anyone read me?"

One of the personnel responded almost immediately. _"Dr, good to hear from you; you returning to the base?" _ Shepard felt off, it almost seemed like the researcher knew that Kenson would be coming back. Strange considering that Kenson had been gone for more than three days.

"Affirmative and I have Commander Shepard with me." Kenson added and flashed a quick smile at the commander. Shepard returned the gesture, despite the fact that he was growing increasingly uneasy.

"_Shepard's with you? Really?_" the researcher said with a slight disbelief in his voice.

"Yes and he would like to examine the artifact personally. Please see to it that the proper actions are taken so we can present our evidence." Kenson added.

"_Roger, I'll get everything set up for your arrival. Project base out." _And with that the radio went dead and Kenson returned to her seat across from Shepard.

"See? All taken care of, now just sit back and relax. We'll be at the base soon." Kenson said reassuringly.

Shepard looked to the window and watched the Alpha relay fade in the distance. _"Relax? Yeah, sure." _ He thought wearily and closed his eyes to catch some much needed sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Ch 6: Distraction

_Captain's quarters; Normandy SR2. Aprox two days post Suicide mission. 1150 hours_

Kelly removed a Cerberus uniform from Shepard's closet and neatly laid it out on the foot of his bed. She folded the pants and shirt, taking extra care to make sure it was as symmetrical as possible. The red head gave one last glance at the black and white uniform to make sure it didn't have any flaws; she could almost see Shepard in it right now. She began to softly stroke the chest of the uniform; partially out of a need to remove the few creases still left in it, but mainly out of concern for her lover.

_Kelly smiled warmly as she remembered when Shepard and her first kissed only a few months ago. Admittedly she had made the first move when she wrapped her hands around his cheeks and lunged at him; hungrily devouring his lips. He was so surprised at what had just happened he didn't even have time to react. But his shock didn't stop him from returning her affection just as forcefully. Shepard had drawn her even closer to him, which knocked over the lovely meal that Rupert had prepared for them in the process…_

Kelly snapped herself back to reality and smiled as she made her way to Shepard's fish tank to feed the creatures' hungry gullets. She activated the orange terminal on the wall mounted aquarium and brown flakes began to precipitate onto the surface of the water inside. Next she attended to Shepard's hamster; which she affectionately named _Blimpie_, the little ball of fur danced excitedly when it noticed her approach. She placed a few pellets into the tiny bowl inside the cage, and watched happily as the little creature nibbled on a few pellets at a time. She lightly ran her fingers along the hamster's soft fur a few times before closing the cage. Kelly left the room and felt she should check on Shepard's crew, just to make sure that all of their needs were met. He would've done the same if he were here. She ran her fingers across the elevator's control panel and selected the CIC.

**~O~**

Joker was staring at his terminal so intently that he failed to hear the yeoman approach him; much less hear her talking when she asked how he was doing. Kelly just smiled and approached him from the co-pilot's side. She took a seat on the dashboard and batted her green eyes at him with a sincere expression plastered on her face. "So how are you Mr. Moreu?" She asked in her usual happy tone of voice.

"Huh?" Joker responded with a slight shock. He adjusted his hat's visor and turned slightly to face the unknown voice. "Oh, Kelly. Sorry didn't hear ya. When'd you get here?" he asked in an apologetic tone and returned her smile.

"Only a few minutes ago. I'm sorry for bothering; I just wanted to make sure you were ok." The yeoman crossed her arms casually, all the while never removing her eyes off of him.

Joker meanwhile had returned his eyes to his glowing holo panel to resume his previous activity, but still continued to speak to her. "Oh yeah I'm great; just killing some time 'till Shepard gets back." Joker lightly rubbed his auburn facial hair in thought.

"I'll see your bet EDI and raise you fifteen credits." Joker replied confidently and motioned with his omni-tool to input the amount.

"Very well Jeff. I will also raise your bet with an additional twenty credits." Edi responded in her normal aloof inflection. Joker arched a brow and smiled sinisterly as the fifth card appeared in the display before him. Joker knew he had her.

"Read 'em and weep EDI, or um, maybe just read 'em." Joker laid his hand across the screen. Joker laid out his two cards and completed a full house that lay before him; three kings of hearts, and two jacks of hearts. Joker crossed his arms proudly and sneered "Full house, Beat that EDI."

"I believe I already have Jeff." The AI responded coolly and displayed her cards resulting in a flush. Joker's jaw dropped open in shock. Kelly giggled slightly and watched as EDI brought up each of her cards. "I win again Jeff."

Joker ran the palm of his hand against his forehead and let out a defeated sigh. He then turned his attention to his synthetic opponent "Y'know you only won because it's kind of hard to read a person's poker face when they don't even have one." He crossed his arms in a puff and EDI retorted.

"Your chances would only be improved by a margin of .8% if I actually did posses a _poker face. _Even still I would not show normal organic inflections; such as eye brow movement or irregular body twitches that could implicate me other wise." Joker rubbed the back of his neck and finally agreed.

"Yeah; but still y'know, _poker faces_ are very crucial in this game. Well, at least to organics they are anyway." Joker offered with a smile. Kelly saw that he would be fine and since she was not currently needed; decided to make her way to the galaxy map.

"Do you wish to play again Jeff?" EDI asked her opponent politely. Kelly smiled as she approached the CIC, still listening to Joker grumble about how he was going to shuffle and deal the deck this time. Kelly was impressed with how close the two had grown in just the short amount of time that they've been together. It did worry her a little bit knowing that EDI was now an unshackled, fully realized AI. But Shepard trusted EDI completely and if Andy trusted EDI then so would she. Kelly bypassed the galaxy map and headed for the Normandy's tech lab to check on Mordin.

He was currently busing himself examining Shepard's model ship of Liara's Shadow Broker base. "Hmm artificial shield technology, electron dampener rods, and several mass effect field generators for sustained placement in hostile environment, impressive." The salarian speedily wrote down his notes onto a data pad while he continued to examine it. "Could possibly improve spaceflight capabilities if; wait, NO! Would cause explosive decompression, never mind." Mordin spoke quickly as he took a bite of the meal that Gardner had prepared for him. "Hmm Splendid." Kelly approached his desk and simply waited for him to finish writing his notes; but to her surprise the doctor made the first move.

"Ah. Yeoman Chambers, hello how may I help you?" Mordin speedily greeted with a smile.

"Just making sure everything is alright with the team; do you have everything you need?" Kelly asked as she placed her hands on the table.

"Yes! Thank you. Concern appreciated but have everything that is needed, something else?" Mordin continued to stare at the shadow broker ship, while he wrote down several notes into his pad. Kelly smiled at his enthusiasm and curious nature; she always enjoyed that part about Mordin.

"That's all Mordin I'll let you get back to your work." Mordin nodded in acknowledgement.

But before returning to his work the scientist quickly adjusted his attention to Kelly "Oh!" Mordin exclaimed happily "Congratulations on establishing relationship with Shepard; always thought you two were an appropriate match. Happy to see my hypothesis correct." Kelly blushed and was about to say something, but Mordin was already miles away; busing himself by alternating between a terminal behind him and ingesting more of the fettuccini that Gardner had prepared for him. Kelly just shook her head and chuckled slightly as she went to the armory to check on Jacob Taylor.

When Kelly entered the armory she saw that Jacob was currently examining an eviscerator shotgun; most likely to check and see if the sights were properly aligned for its next user. She approached him with her usual cheerful demeanor "Hello Mr. Taylor, how are you?"

Jacob stopped his examination of the weapon momentarily to address his new visitor "Great Kelly, Yourself?" he inquired with a grin. Kelly moved in closer to him and leaned against the weapon bench across from him. He laid the weapon down onto the table, and picked up a mattock assault rifle to examine its cracked scope.

"I'm fine Jacob, thank you for asking. Just thought I'd make sure the crew's needs are met." The young red head said with a smile. "Anything you need Mr. Taylor?" Kelly inquired politely.

Jacob set down the mattock in order to provide his attention fully to her. "Actually yeah I could use something. Next time we're near the Citadel ask Shepard if I could stop by C-Sec HQ; I need to pick up a few scopes for the rifles. Most of 'em cracked while we were back at the Collector base." Kelly suddenly stopped smiling at the mention of the Collector base. Ever since she had been abducted she tried to block that horrible nightmare out, but even the mention of it brought back all the painful memories.

"_God, the Collector base." _ She thought horrified at all the abominations that had occurred there. _Kelly shivered slightly when she thought of being trapped in that hot, cramped, insect-like cocoon. As one by one the pods before her liquefied their occupants into a grey slurry of flesh and organs. Even form inside her coffin she could hear the colonist's blood curdling screams of agony. She felt like crying, but then she remembered Shepard's voice pierce through the madness._ _**Kelly, Sweetheart do you hear me? You're safe now I've got you. **__And she really was. Her Andy had pulled not only her; but the entire crew, out of hell itself at the risk of his own life. She missed him and wished that he were here right now._

"-Kelly?" Jacob Taylor's velveteen voice pierced her thoughts and returned her back to the conversation at hand.

"Huh?" Kelly only just realized she had left poor Jacob talking to himself. "Oh, I'm sorry Jacob." She answered in her normal cheerful manner. "What did you say?" Jacob just shrugged; he apparently did not mind the fact that she had just openly ignored him. "I asked if that was all you needed?" he reiterated with a chuckle.

Kelly flashed him a quick smile "Oh no that was all. Thank you Mr. Taylor."

"No problem." Jacob replied and returned back to his post since his attention was no longer needed. Kelly exited the armory and entered the elevator on the CIC, and activated the terminal to take her to the third floor.

**~O~**

Kelly arrived on the crew deck and exited the elevator to the sound of loud booming laughter circulating throughout the mess hall. Kelly walked silently down the hallway to the mess hall and turned the corner to see Zaeed Massani retelling a story to the crew about the time he had to infiltrate a Batarian slave ship with just five men. "No Shit. So I'd just placed this bomb in the center of a pile of the bastard's corpses and made out like a mad man to my ship. But when I reached into my pockets to pull out a cigarette I realized I left the bloody things on top of the damn bomb." The veteran warlord boomed with a loud, cheerful demeanor. "Now I wasn't about to leave a genuine pack of cigarettes from Earth behind, especially not with the amount of money it would cost to buy a new case. So I ran as fast as I could to get them when outta nowhere this bastard; who somehow survived me and my team, runs out guns blazing and missing every one of his shots by the way. Just screaming _DIE HUMAN_! At the top of his lungs" He laughed loudly in unison with the rest of the crew. Kelly reclined against the wall furthest from the commotion and listened intently to Massani's tale, when she noticed Kenneth Donnelly and Gabriella Daniels sitting close by. Gabby had taken her focus off if Zaeed when she noticed Kelly and motioned for her friend to come join them at the table. Kelly rushed over to the nearest empty seat and eased in as quietly as possible to avoid interrupting Zaeed's story.

"How's it goin' Kelly?" Gabby asked in a hushed voice.

"I'm great Gabby thank you for asking." Kenneth was focused on listening to Massani but still managed to give a somewhat courteous "Hey" and a nod in Kelly's direction to at least acknowledge her presence.

"So I'm thinking this bastard's takin' a piss. He's just making an ass outta himself and he really can't believe he can take me." The veteran warlord mocked at the situation. But Kelly had since stopped paying attention to Zaeed, because as creepy and menacing as the man was when he was angered; he was even more terrifying when he was happy. She shifted herself in her chair so that she could talk to Kenneth and Gabby more clearly.

"So how are things in the engine room going guys?" Kelly whispered to them and the two engineers both turned to face her. Kenneth started to open his mouth but was cut off by Gabby's sudden injection. "Oh! Progress is going great Kelly, especially with Tali on our team. Geez I can't even imagine how we would even complete the repairs to the ezzo core without her." Kenneth nodded in agreement and gave Gabby a teasing sneer behind her back.

Kelly chuckled and smiled at the pair's competitive nature. "So what brings you guys up here?" Kelly inquired.

Again Kenneth made a motion to speak but was cut off by Gabby's quicker reflexes. "Well we've been working for the past five hours on resoldering the 2nd tier stabilizers and adjusting the heat sinks after the big battle with the Collectors. Tali thought we looked tired so she ordered us to get some R+R for a couple minutes." Gabby crossed her arms in protest. Kenneth placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his enclosed hands. "But when we told her that we didn't need the rest. She gave us this posture that reminded me of when my mom used to scold me. Then she said she would sick her combat drone on us if we didn't leave to take a break." The two girls laughed quietly at the thought of Tali's maternal nature.

Kenneth finally interjected into their conversation "She could do a lot more than chase me around with her little toy." Kenneth let out a low pitched purr.

Kelly's eyes widened with shock and Gabby gave her colleague a hard, audible punch to his bicep. "Ow! Bloody hell woman! What are you a damn Krogan?" Kenneth rubbed his newly bruised arm.

She offered the two one last friendly smile and slid herself out of her chair. Gabby beamed at her friend courteously; Kenneth gave her a wave good-bye and smiled at her through a wince. Kelly started to make her way to the gun battery to visit Garrus.

"Kenneth and Gabby are so cute together; I just hope that they realize that before it's too late." Kelly thought as she approached the door to the Normandy's gun battery. She opened the door to reveal the tall, armored turian that was standing; almost statuesque at his post.

"Yeoman Chambers." Garrus said respectfully as he turned to face the young yeoman. "Something you need?" Kelly took a few steps into the room and shifted to his right. The door closed behind her in a low hiss, Kelly smiled at him kindly.

"Just thought I'd come down and see if you were doing ok Garrus." She took a seat on a nearby crate on the floor as a makeshift chair. Garrus' mandibles wiggled and retracted slowly; Kelly assumed it was the turian equivalent of human eyebrow movement. She had only spoken to a few turians before in her past work, and never again once she joined up with Cerberus.

Garrus folded his arms across his armor's black and blue chest plate; his black eyes focused on her. "You sound like Shepard. He would always come down to talk to us on the original Normandy back when we were hunting Saren." Garrus chuckled.

"Don't care much for the company Garrus?" Kelly replied as she brought her right leg to rest on top of the other leg. Garrus leaned his back on his computer terminal stared at the door.

"Hmm I don't think it's that I mind the company. I think it's just more along the lines that I've never been much of a team player." The turian let out a small breath and began to tap one of his three fingers on his crossed arms.

"Your dossier begs other wise Mr. Vakarian. You fought alongside Shepard when no one else believed in him." Kelly smiled warmly at the scarred alien. "You led a team of twelve against a world filled with criminals, and made them fear you. Then you joined him again, and against all odds you survived and ended the Collector threat once and for all."

"Valid points I suppose, except I got my entire team killed on Omega so you may have to omit that last bit." Garrus said remorsefully and sunk his head in shame.

"But that wasn't your fault Garrus. From what I've read in Shepard's report it was because of someone named Sidonis." Kelly said sympathetically while she adjusted herself in her seat so she could be more comfortable.

"Sidonis." Garrus growled angrily and brought his attention to the door.

Kelly realized she had made a mistake and attempted to rectify it. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to pry… Sometimes I forget that not everyone is as much of an open book as I am."

"No it's alright Chambers." Garrus quickly changed his tone and continued "Y'know it's funny; when that bastard betrayed me all I wanted to do was put a bullet in his head." Garrus adjusted his posture and made his way to the door but did not activate it.

"What stopped you?" Kelly whispered, but quickly covered her mouth lightly in an attempt to forgo her question. But to Kelly's surprise; Garrus held up his three fingers and waived his hand as a gesture of approval.

"Believe it or not it was me that ultimately decided not to." The turian folded his arms behind his back as he recalled the event in question. "We had tracked down Sidonis to a plaza in the neon district of the Zakara ward marketplace on the Citadel. It was a nice quiet area; no surveillance, no cover, and no C-Sec presence. But before we got there Shepard started talking to me."

Kelly unfolded her legs and planted her hands between them. She leaned forward so that she could provide her full attention to him. "What did he say?" Kelly asked.

"He tried to convince me that I wasn't a cold blooded killer. He told me that he knew I was better than Sidonis ever will be." The turian took a step away from the door. "Shepard said that if I murdered Sidonis, then I would be no better than the gangs that killed my team. He kept arguing that no matter how angry I was with Sidonis, I shouldn't take his life like some common thug."

"And what did you think?" Kelly asked softly. The turian moved to the opposite end of the small room and bowed his head in shame.

"I told him that I was nothing like him, and that this was my choice not his. I said he didn't have any right to talk down to me like some stupid rookie. I told him he had no idea what I was going through."

"Then what happened?" Kelly's green eyes connected with his coal black eyes.

Garrus turned to face her and let his arms fall to his sides. "Shepard said that no matter what I decided he would back me one hundred percent. But…" The turian trailed off and Kelly thought she could make out a smile slowly form across his scarred visage.

"But?" Kelly asked while she did he best to hide her curiosity.

"Shepard's a clever bastard." Garrus chuckled and continued. "Shepard warned Sidonis I was after him; he left his ear piece on purpose so I can hear him. Then Sidonis tried to make a break for it, but Shepard stopped him claiming he was the only thing standing between him and an extra nose hole." Garrus laughed lightly at the situation.

Garrus lowered his head to stare at the floor and averted his gaze from Kelly. "Then I found out the only reason why Sidonis betrayed me was to save himself. Sidonis told Shepard that the guilt had destroyed him, all I asked Shepard was for a chance to clean up." He looked at the door. His shoulders tightened and his posture grew stiff. Kelly could tell there was more to it than he was expressing so she pressed him for the answers.

"But there was something else wasn't there?" She asked patiently.

He nodded solemnly. "My finger was on the trigger, but I couldn't do it. Something in the back of my mind was telling me not to." His three fingered hands formed into fists and he tensed up even more.

"And then what happened?" Kelly inquired. Garrus turned to face her.

"Shepard told me I had to let it go. That Sidonis took no pleasure from living and that Sidonis was just a broken man. I told him that wasn't justice, that my team deserved retribution." Garrus paused to take in a long, quiet breath. "Then Sidonis moved past Shepard and stood out in the open. He told Shepard there was no way he could ever make up for what he had done, but if I thought that killing him would make things right then he wouldn't fight me." Kelly had a look of shock on her.

"What did you do?" The red head whispered curiously. Garrus' eyes flared and she could tell they were fully of sympathy.

"I lined my sights on his forehead; my index finger went for my rifle's trigger, but when I looked into Sidonis' eyes I saw something I never thought I'd see…" Garrus sighed remorsefully. "I saw my old teammate, and I remembered why I let him join my squad in the first place. Sidonis first came to me and my team when there were just seven of us. His sister had been raped and killed by one of the Blue Sun's Turian I first met him he came to our base; he raised his arms above his head in a gesture of surrender, and he screamed for my name personally. A Salarian on my team was cloaked near him and radioed that he could take him out, but I told him to stand down he was unarmed. " Kelly smiled at Garrus' leadership skills.

"I walked down to the bridge connecting our base to a large cargo garage and told Sidonis what he wanted from me. I could tell from his clothing that he was just a civilian and not a merc. Sidonis said that he heard about me and how we were targeting the Eclipse, Blood Pack, and Blue Suns merc bands. Sidonis said he wanted to help, but he said he had no weapons training. I told him he'd only get himself killed and I made my way back to the base. But then he screamed at me just to give him a chance, he pleaded for me to let him get justice for his sister. I turned to face him and I could see a few tears in his eyes. He gave me this look in his eyes, a look that told me that he would do whatever it took to stop the Blue Suns." Garrus sighed and looked away, once again turning his attention to the door as though Sidonis were right outside. "It was the same look that he gave me when I sighted down on him."

"So you let him go?" Kelly said with an admiring smile. Garrus silently nodded as an answer.

"Sidonis told me that he would try to make it up to me, even if it took him the rest of his life. And in the end I think all I really wanted was answers. I knew there was good in him still, but all I didn't understand was why he betrayed me. After talking with him I guess I just needed the closure. But I don't know." Garrus finished with a sigh.

Kelly picked herself up from her spot and walked over to Garrus' side. "Well I don't know if it means anything Garrus, but I'm proud of you. You were betrayed in such a cold and cruel fashion; yet you just let him go. And in the end I think that takes a lot more resolve than vengeance. But that's just my opinion Y'know."

Garrus turned to her and smiled; or at least Kelly thought it was a smile, turians always were difficult for her to read. "And that's not even the best part." Garrus added. "When we returned to the Citadel a few weeks later; you know, for Thane's kid. Anyway, as we were walking to C-Sec I hear this news vid about a turian who turned himself in for the murder of twelve people on Omega. Shepard stopped so I could hear it. Sidonis even had a few Blue Suns contacts and personnel that he gave up to C-Sec that led to over thirty arrests within the organization. It makes me wonder why I ever doubt Shepard; he is always right." Garrus teased.

"I guess that's why he let me take the lead of the second fire team in the Collector base. He believed in me, even if I didn't at the time. I guess that's why I'm loyal to him" Garrus spoke as he walked back to his terminal. "Because he needs people to believe in him, no matter what," Kelly gave him a warm smile and she stood up ready to leave.

"That all you needed Kelly?" Garrus started typing away on his terminal.

"Yes, more than enough actually. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me Garrus." Kelly replied courteously.

"No problem it's like they say; if your friend likes her you have to like her." Garrus stopped calibrating the Normandy's targeting algorithm's to face a crimson faced Kelly. "I wanted to thank you for that by the way. I haven't seen Shepard this happy since…" _The turian let his mind wander to his days back in the Normandy's cargo bay. He thought of all those times he saw Shepard and Ashley Williams flirting behind his back and knew why Shepard had suddenly changed after Virmire. _"Well, it's been a while. And if his good spirits are because of you; then, that makes you my friend." Garrus offered her a side glance.

Kelly closed her eyes bashfully and beamed another golden smile at her new found friend.

"Shepard has given a lot to this galaxy; the least he deserves is a little happiness." Garrus returned his attention to his work and Kelly exited the gun battery without another word.

The doors closed behind her and she leaned her back against it to process everything that had just happened. Garrus' little chat with her had renewed her spirits, she had no idea how much she meant to Shepard. Kelly missed her "Andy" but she wasn't about to let herself interfere with his work. She wasn't the only one that needed him; hell the whole galaxy needed him. And whether she liked it or not she had to share him, even if it meant that the two couldn't be together after their mission was done.

Kelly's thoughts were forcefully interrupted by a familiar voice. "Hey Kel' how's it going?" Kasumi Goto spoke cheerfully to her friend as her personal cloaking device dissipated and she came into view.

Kelly let out a short, frightened squeak out of shock. She held her chest mimicking a heart attack. "Dammit Kasumi, I've told you not to do that." Kelly hissed playfully at her friend.

"So, aren't you even going to check in on your favorite patient?" The hooded thief teased. Kelly shook her head and replied with a smile.

"Fine. Is everything going alright with you K, you need anything?" Kelly asked happily. Despite her Kasumi's nasty habit of appearing out of thin air and scaring the hell out of her; she and Kelly were actually becoming fast friends. Kasumi reminded her of one of her old sigma-delta friends from back in college. Kasumi would always talk with her about gossip, and always kept her in stitches. This time was no different.

"Actually there is one thing that I could use." Kasumi spoke with a sinister leer. She reclined on one of the cryo pods along the wall. "Tell me Kelly, how was _**he**_?" She asked in a mischievous manner.

Kelly's face flooded with red, she was so embarrassed that she almost choked on her tongue. Kasumi took Kelly's extended silence as her que to continue. "_You're not getting off that easily Kel'._" She thought wickedly.

"C'mon spill Red. Was he as dangerous in the bedroom, as he is on the battlefield?" Kasumi beamed with delight over her friend's obvious discomfort of the subject being discussed.

"So you're the one who gave Shepard that dumb nickname for me?" Kelly accused, hoping the change in subject matter would give her friend pause. But Kasumi only used it against her.

"Why? Was he crying out that _dumb nickname _at the top of his lungs over and over again last night?" Kasumi laughed maniacally "**Naughty**."

Kelly let out a grunt of protest at her friend's immaturity. Kelly knew if she didn't say anything about it, Kasumi's accusations would only get worse. "Fine." Kelly sighed in defeat. "I'll talk." Kasumi mimicked retrieving a pen and paper from her hood as she prepared to take mental notes.

"He was…" Kelly trailed off when she began to think about their night.

_She remembered how amazing it felt to have Shepard on top of her. How comfortable and warm his breath was while he planted kiss, after tender kiss on her neck sending shivers down her spine. Or the feeling of his strong, firm hands on her ample bosom; as he gently massaged and caressed them in a way that drove her insane with pleasure. She remembered savoring the taste of his tongue in her mouth as the two feverishly kissed; it had been a night that she had always hoped to share with him-_

The yeoman's fond memories of last night's activities were cut short when Kasumi snapped her fingers at her to bring her back.

"Hey Kel' spill, don't make me get a crowbar and pry it out of you." Kasumi gestured struggling to open an invisible object with an invisible crowbar.

"Alright." Kelly spoke between laughs. "He was…_**Really**_ good. There are you happy?" She had placed emphasis on the word really in order to convey the answer to her friend.

Kasumi crossed her arms across her chest and shifted her weight to her left leg. "I bet he was." She laughed contentedly.

"But how did you know we did anything at all?" Kelly placed her hands on her hips and glared at Kasumi accusingly.

Kasumi laughed and gave her answer proudly. "Just had a feeling that's all. Annnd well; let's just say that while everyone was sleeping last night I saw a certain crew member sneak her way into the elevator with the galaxy's biggest smile attached to her face. Besides, I've seen how he looks at you while you're working at your terminal. God! I'm surprised he hasn't already taken you into his arms, thrown you up on that railing and ripped your clothes off then and there." Kasumi teased happily.

Now Kelly really flushed and she quickly darted her head away so her friend couldn't see her embarrassment. Then her friend's mischievous nature and posture changed to a more serious and sympathetic one. "He really loves you Kel'. Shepard gives you the same look that Keiji used to give me." She spoke with a strange mixture of sadness, happiness, and admiration at Kelly and Shepard's slowly blooming romance.

Kelly looked at her friend who had since stood up and began a walk towards the dining area of the crew deck. Kasumi stopped for a brief moment to offer one piece of advice to her friend. "Just…Make sure to remember to tell **him** how much **he** means to you. After all; there's only so much us girls can tell a guy with our bodies. Y'know?" Kasumi returned to her normal perky personality and flashed a final mischievous grin at Kelly; before moving on to the mess. Where; from the sound of it, Zaeed was still raging on about the Batarian. Who at this point in his story had received a buck_ –shot enema_. And the thief disappeared almost as quickly as she had appeared.

"Thanks K." Kelly spoke, unsure if her friend could still hear her. "I will." She whispered happily as she made her way past the aisle of cryo tubes and back to the dining area.


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 7 Unsettling Revelations

_Project Base, Bahak system. Aprox three days post Suicide mission. 1230 hours._

"Shepard…? We're here," Dr. Kenson spoke softly while attempting to rouse a weary Commander Shepard from his short slumber.

He adjusted himself in his seat so that he could sit up rather than slouch. Shepard rubbed his eyes lightly to sober up. He turned his attention to the shuttle's window to view the far expanding mountains of rock and dust that comprised the terrain of the project base site.

The base was far larger than it had actually appeared through the dust storm. The real eye grasper was a large satellite dish that protruded from the uppermost part of the facility. Several Kodiak class shuttles were lined up side by side across the enormous central launch pad. As for the base itself; the main facility was huge. A large industrial building comprised of several research warehouses attached to its side; portable electrical generators attached to the rooftops of each structure. Shepard could see the makeshift thrusters protruding from one of the asteroid's larger hills; but they looked as though they were literally being held together by duct tape and staples. Although for the task at hand they would have to suffice.

The stolen batarian shuttle set down in the largest part of the facility; the base's enormous ceiling opened in preparation for their descent. Once inside the shuttle gently landed on the neatly tiled floor with an inaudible thump; Shepard could hear the room begin the re-pressurization protocols and oxygenate the room. And the doors to his shuttle flung open with a booming slam.

He stepped off the shuttle into a clearly crowded cargo bay. Several large crates were thrown haphazardly about; and several smaller ones forming neatly aligned buildings to his far right and far left. Shepard noticed a large countdown timer directly above him and Kenson; and he began to approach it curiously.

"What's this?" Shepard motioned at the large, rectangular display. Each one of its white minute numbers slowly dialed down as it inched ever closer to zero.

Kenson joined him at his side and placed her hand to her hip, while she formulated a proper means of explanation. "That's our team's countdown to the Reaper's arrival. It's just under forty-eight hours and dropping. Really puts the issue into perspective doesn't it?" Shepard folded his arms across his blue and gold Kestrel chest plate, all the while never prying his eyes off the ominous death clock.

"How can you be sure that's an accurate estimate?" Shepard asked; hoping that this approximation was completely off.

"Trust me, it is." Kenson looked at him. Her brown eyes connected with his blue eyes; as she carefully explained the finer points of what this timer represented. "The artifact that we uncovered has been giving off pulses at a steady rate with every hour that passes. The object is reacting to the Reaper's proximity; and once that countdown reaches zero, then the pulses will become constant and the Reapers will be here."

Shepard's jaw dropped in horror and pointed at the clock in disbelief. "You're telling me that the Reapers could be at Earth in two days? Then we don't have any time to waste." She nodded in agreement.

"Then let's show you that proof, c'mon I'll escort you to it." Kenson opened the door to the facility and two armored Alliance soldiers greeted them courteously.

Shepard and Kenson walked past several doors and personnel before making their way to a small rec-room. Two alliance officers were having a spirited game of Skyllian Five poker; and another armored Alliance soldier was on the sofa closest to Shepard snoring loudly. "What would we need to get your project up and running again?" Shepard asked as he opened the door at the back of the room.

"Everything was in place when I was captured; the issue was never a matter of _could we, but should we_?" Kenson spoke as she followed his lead into the next room.

The two made their way past another group of Alliance soldiers and walked into an elevator. Shepard activated the control panel and the two began their descent to the floor below.

"What's our alternative?" Shepard asked as he started to remember that if this plan was set in motion then this entire system would be sacrificed.

"The Reapers will reach the Bahak system regardless of what we do. But if you want to buy Earth some time; then this relay must be destroyed." Kenson spoke with an almost disappointed tone. This whole base was beginning to make Shepard uneasy; but if this invasion was truly already in motion, then he had to play along.

The elevator stopped at the ground level a few moments later. Its doors opened and the two neared their destination. The door that held the object behind it was currently sealed shut. Kenson walked up to it and brought up her omni-tool. "One second, I'll unlock it for you." Kenson typed a few keys on her orange holographic greave. The door's panel lit green and the entry way flew open to reveal the large object.

"Commander Shepard. I give you Object Rho." Shepard walked in, a look of terror frozen on his face. The object was massive; its top was made up of several thick, intertwined pieces of a purple metallic steel rods. Its central core illuminated with an ominous blue and purple light that was contained within a structure of crossed beams; in a sick way it sort of resembled a human chest cavity. The whole thing made Shepard's skin crawl with revulsion. But Shepard put his feelings of unnerving aside to ask a very important question to the doctor.

"You have the Reaper artifact just sitting here? Out in the OPEN?" He protested in shock at the doctor's careless mistake.

"It was necessary; it was the only way to see _their_ arrival." Kenson replied in a cold and distant tone. She never took her eyes off the object; it was as if the object was compelling her to watch its every energy fluctuation.

"Kenson, this isn't right." Shepard stated with a clear discomfort in his voice. Kenson's face slowly formed a smile that made his hair stand on end.

"Give it a moment Shepard, soon you will have all the proof you'll require."

Shepard took a few steps forward so that he could examine the object closer. But before he could get close enough to it; he heard the device give off several suspicious noises, and he was suddenly overwhelmed by a blast of blinding energy.

Shepard's head recoiled in anguish. His mind was being assaulted by visions of the Reapers; he saw hundreds of ships, maybe even thousands arriving into the system. Their tentacle like protrusions extended outwards reaching for the Bahak system's relay. He saw Earth, Illium, even the Citadel overshadowed and overwhelmed by the sheer number of Reapers. The whole experience was slightly reminiscent of when he interfaced with the Prothean beacon back on Eden Prime; except this time it was far more painful.

Then the artifact somehow reached even deeper into his mind and showed Shepard something that filled him with horror. An image so unbelievably sinister than anything the Reapers could have ever done to him.

The Reaper object had pieced together a vision of Kelly; she was just smiling at him just as she always did. But then something changed; her face began to shrivel, and her flesh began to fall off by chunks. He could hear her screaming in agony; as wires and circuitry replaced what had once been blood and veins in her body. Her facial muscles contorted and twisted; her eyes sank into her skull. Her flesh shriveled around her head to form an outline of her skull, and her hair began to fall out, strand by strand.

The Reapers were turning her into a husk right in front of him as a means of breaking his will. Then a loud Reaper growl pierced his ears; nearly busting his eardrums.

Shepard fell to his knees; he clutched his head and shook it violently in an attempt to shake the visions from his mind. He picked himself up to one knee and rested his arm on his leg in order to keep himself from falling over. His eyes burned with a raw unforgiving pain; he pinned the bridge of his nose in order to alleviate the painful sensation in his eyes. Shepard heard the carnifex pistol that he had given Kenson back in the prison power up.

"I'm sorry Shepard. I can't let you live; _I can't let you stop our arrival. _" Kenson spoke with an echoed voice overlapping her own. Her yellow eyes narrowed on Shepard as her gun came to rest on the back of his skull.

"Harbinger." Shepard growled angrily as he tried in vain to get up to his feet. Shepard heard multiple, heavy, footsteps make their way into the room; a lot more than he could count in his current state. Kenson took her eyes off of him temporarily to motion for her forces to remove him from the room.

Shepard noticed her eyes had since returned to normal; Harbinger must've released his hold on the doctor. He had to make his move quick, if he didn't do something he would either be taken as a prisoner, killed, or maybe something a lot worse. Shepard summoned what strength was left in him and made a grab for Kenson's exposed arm. He was so quick that all Kenson had time for was to let out a panicked scream; followed by an ineffectual and meaningless shot from her pistol. Shepard rested one hand on her wrist for leverage and the other hand rested on her elbow; and with one solid motion he pushed both of his hands in opposite directions. Her arm let out an audible crack as the femur and elbow's connective tissue was torn in twain. She let out a loud cry of pain and Shepard pushed her away from him; every soldier in the room fired their weapons at the commander with one goal in mind, killing him.

Shepard was under heavy fire; there were at least a handful of automatic weapons being fired in his direction. By the time the shooting had started; Shepard had thrown himself against a low flung railing in front of him. He removed his phalanx from his holster and aimed it at Kenson. Unfortunately, his vision was barely returning and he missed every shot.

"_Take him._" Harbinger spoke through Kenson.

Shepard found himself in a fight for his life; as the first wave of a dozen trained Alliance soldiers rushed toward his position. He was completely surrounded, fortunately his vision had fully returned. Shepard fought back against the insurmountable odds with all his might.

He unholstered his mattock and equipped the armor piercing rounds he had used on the base. He fired the rifle at one of the Alliance soldiers closest to his position. A succession of rounds from the powerful rifle made short work of the soldier's helmet; it let out a loud crack and a cloud of blood left the exit wound as he fell backward.

Shepard leaned out of cover and managed to kill another two more soldiers with a well placed flash-bang grenade and several more rounds from his rifle.

"Shepard is unstoppable!" one of the soldiers spoke horrified.

"Bullshit! Get out there and kill him." The other responded.

But Shepard just rolled out of cover and finished them off with his mattock. He threw himself against one of the room's support beams, in order to avoid the oncoming fire from yet more soldiers that had entered the fray to replace the ones he had just killed.

Kenson spoke to Shepard over the intercom as he ejected a thermal clip from his weapon; this time it was her voice.

"We don't want to hurt you Shepard; please lay down your weapons." She pleaded with the commander; who was busy killing a few more soldiers with his mattock.

Suddenly a loud Reaper growl; similar to a loud car horn, pierced his skull. The noise was so unbearable that it felt like his skull would split in two. Shepard screamed in agony; Object Rho pulsated violently and the Reaper artifact communicated with him directly.

_Do not resist. Surrender your mind to us and you will be spared. _

Shepard clutched his rifle tightly and placed his left hand on his head to shake the voice off. One of the Alliance officers tried to flank him and shot at the commander with his pistol; but Shepard recovered in time to place a shot from his mattock clean through the soldier's helmet.

Another three soldiers had moved up to his position from his left flank, and fired a barrage of avenger assault rifles directly at him. Shepard was exposed; and by the time he heard the trooper's gunfire multiple rounds had already punctured his armor and flesh. He screamed in pain and rolled into a computer terminal for temporary cover so his shields could recover. He clutched his stomach with his left hand and lay on his back to draw in precious gulps of air. One of the rounds pierced his abdomen; but fortunately it went clean through him without puncturing anything vital. And after a few seconds a bright blue light enveloped him and his shields were re-charged. Shepard rose to his feet and steadied his mattock. And fired several rounds at the two guards closest to him; the first soldier took three rounds in his neck and flew back gurgling on his blood. The other soldier took five shots to the stomach and doubled over his cover, lifeless.

The final soldier fired at Shepard and the commander ducked behind his cover to avoid a very close head shot. Shepard leaned out of the lower part of his cover and was about to put the soldier down when his gun let out a defiant beeping noise; his supply of thermal clips was exhausted.

"Shit!" he yelled in anger and threw the rifle to the ground.

The soldier heard this and decided to take advantage of this sudden turn of fate. Unfortunately for his opponent; Shepard was a soldier, which meant he always had another gun.

When the guard made his way over to Shepard the commander already had his eviscerator unholstered and aimed at the trooper. A single incendiary blast from the shotgun's muzzle impacted against the soldier's helmet; causing his skull to crack in half. The upper left of his face had been blown off by the sheer force of the blast; while what was left of the assailant's head slowly erupted in flames and burned brightly.

Soon after Shepard had killed the third assailant; another group of soldiers entered the room to add to the already remaining soldiers, bringing their numbers close to twenty. Shepard was under so much fire that his shields had since stopped recharging; and droplets of blood from his earlier wound began to form a small red pool at his feet.

One by one the assaulting soldier's numbers began to dwindle. Even in his current state and with the amount of soldiers he was facing; he still could hold his own. Two soldiers were killed immediately when they tried to move up to the commander. Another three were killed by a combination of his flash bang grenades and more shotgun shells. He flung himself against the artifact's low flung railings closest to the entrance. He pulled back on the shotgun's grip and ejected an empty thermal clip to the ground.

"Shepard's not going down!" One of the squad leaders screamed in fear through his helmet's radio.

"This will only make things worse for you Shepard!" Kenson screamed angrily over the intercom. But Shepard ignored her and fired another salvo of shells into the chests of a couple more soldiers that tried to rush him.

Shepard heard another loud screeching noise eminent from the artifact. It bored into his skull like a violent worm; and it nearly made him drop his shotgun from the sudden assault on his senses. He let out another agonized scream as the device sent out another unstable burst of supersonic energy.

_Your galaxy is within our sights. Your final hours are at hand._

Four soldiers moved up on Shepard; two for his left, and another two on his right. The soldiers to his left fired their assault rifles at him. While the troopers opposite to them fired their pistols at the commander's exposed back. Shepard made a mad roll towards the door to avoid the heavy onslaught of bullets that were punishing his armor and body. When he landed, Shepard fired a blast from his eviscerator into one of the pistoleer's chest cavity; causing a deafening crack and a spray of red mist spewed forth. The other pistol wielding grunt managed to smash several rounds from his pistol into the commander's right shoulder sending him back.

The commander landed on his back and let out a loud cry of pain. He fired an explosive shell from his eviscerator at his assailant's head. The high caliber slug smashed his opponent's skull into pieces and his corpse fell to the ground with a loud thump.

The riflemen tried to take advantage of Shepard's sudden injury; but the commander used his last flash bang as a last ditch effort to save himself. The grenade let out a deafening light and an ear shattering ringing noise; the riflemen clutched their helmet's visors out of pain and blindness, Shepard had his window of opportunity. He limped as quickly as he could towards the riflemen before they could recover; shot gunning the one closest to him and killing him instantly, then slit the other trooper's throat with his omni-blade.

Killing every Alliance soldier in the room was an agonizing and frenzied thirty minutes of pure carnage. By the time he had finished the final Alliance soldier he had only his shuriken and phalanx pistols left; every other weapon was either out of ammo, or discarded.

One of the remaining soldiers yelled into his omni-tool, "We don't have enough people to take on Shepard, activate the heavy mech!" Shepard cut him down with a bullet through the temple.

After the final soldier was dead Shepard would've collapsed to his knees; if it had not been for the fact that he rested his arms on the railing in front of the object to support himself. He was in bad shape; the once blue armor he adorned was now stained a dark purple with fresh blood. His skin was now a pale white, rather than his usual tanned caucasian color. Shepard's vision was beginning to blur and his head was throbbing in unbearable anguish. He let out several loud, sharp breaths and pulled back on his phalanx to eject the spent clip from the chamber. Shepard could barely stand on his feet; let alone move from his current position. His legs were stiff and each breath he took in felt like a sword piercing his lungs.

But Shepard was determined not to die down here; to live his life as an indoctrinated slave. So he ignored all the pain, all the fatigue and limped to meet the new foe.

The hulking machine meandered clumsily into the room; steam shot from its servo motors as each one of its heavy limbs moved slowly towards the commander. The machine's arm mounted gatling gun began to spin quickly; and let out a loud buzzing noise. Shepard barely had enough time to move before the bullets were raining down on his position.

The behemoth inched step by step towards the wounded commander. Shepard held his ground behind a nearby terminal as the mech's heavy machine gun tore it apart segment by segment. He leaned his hand out of cover to blindly fire a few full clips from his machine pistol, but the shots barely affected the machine's reinforced shields.

The Ymir mech's right arm opened at its tip and let out a loud ringing noise before firing a rocket at the commander's location. The blast from the rpg flung the commander forcefully from his cover and right into the mech's line of sights.

Shepard made a mad dash for the nearest piece of cover; unfortunately the mech was not nearly as hindered as he was and struck him several times with slugs from its heavy machine gun.

The first shot nailed Shepard in his shoulder, causing him to stumble forward and crawl desperately to cover. The next shot from the salvo punctured clean through the upper calf his leg and he screamed in agony. Another final shot had managed to slash the upper part of his exposed right bicep and left him bleeding profusely.

Shepard lay in cover trying to block the pain from his mind; fresh blood coated the terminal behind him. He could taste the blood forming a puddle in his mouth, he had to formulate his plan soon or that mech would finish him off. He looked above the still firing mech and spotted something that might be able to help. Another count down timer; similar to the one that Kenson had showed him at the entrance was right above the mech waiting to be shot. It looked heavy enough that at the very least it would take the mech's shields out and give Shepard a fighting chance.

He withdrew his phalanx and cocked the gun in preparation. He hit the timer once with his gun and saw it slant to the left; a second shot brought it down right on top of the mech.

Fortunately the timer was just as heavy as Shepard had figured it was. The machine's shields burst instantly from the brunt force of the concussion, while the weight of the object tore the machine's gatling gun clean from its socket. Its armor plating was beginning to fail and Shepard rose to his feet to deliver the killing blow. A full clip of armor piercing rounds into the mech's head was more than sufficient to finish it off. The mech's head burst into tiny metal pieces; and its torso let out several loud beeps as it prepared to self destruct.

Shepard hobbled as quickly as his injuries would allow so that he could escape the blast radius. By the time he made it to a support beam opposite to the mech, the machine exploded in a blaze of orange and red fire. Bits of the large machine lay scattered along the ground; still glowing brightly from the heat of the explosion. Shepard used his uninjured arm to keep himself upright on his cover. His breathing was growing even heavier and it was almost impossible for him to keep his head up. Shepard brought the back of his left hand to his face and used it to wipe a few long drops of blood that clung to his lower lip and nose.

He looked up when he heard Kenson come on the p.a. system; "Patience. Let the artifact deal with him."

The artifact's core began to pulsate violently and shot out a bright blue light. Shepard wearily raised his phalanx at the artifact's core and fired a full clip into it.

_You will be the first to witness our arrival Shepard. _Harbinger spoke and with his last word; the internal core of the device collapsed, then expanded into a final large and violent shock wave of pure energy. The blast was so powerful it knocked Shepard to his feet instantly.

Shepard opened and closed his eyes slowly a few minutes after the massive concussive blast. Every part of his body ached with raw and unfiltered pain. He could feel the warmth of his blood slowly begin to pool around the back of his head. He looked wearily to his left and noticed his phalanx lying a few inches from his extended arm.

He tried to reach for it but only his fingers acknowledged his command. Shepard could barely move his arm; to him, it felt like it weighed over a ton. He used what little strength remained in him to reach for his phalanx.

He only managed to touch the end of the weapon before a blue armored boot kicked it gingerly out of his reach. Shepard struggled to move his body in vain; but it was pointless, only his head moved. He was too tired, too weak to move anything else. Shepard heard the muffled conversation between the guard and another approaching soldier. They were apparently surprised he was still breathing and that he managed to kill everything they threw at him.

Suddenly two unarmored feet stepped in front of his view. Shepard looked up and saw Kenson's golden eyes rest on him. Her skin was cracking; and a bright golden light began to form around each crevice. Just the sight of this made him want to scream in terror.

"_Take him to the medical bay and patch him up. We need Shepard alive." _Harbinger's voice echoed loudly in unison with Kenson's. And the two Alliance soldiers walked closer to the commander's body. One of the indoctrinated troopers brought his rifle above his head when he noticed Shepard struggle to move. And he aggressively smacked the butt of the weapon against Shepard's face. A loud crack filled Shepard's ears and the world went dark as he lost consciousness.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch 8 Thinking of You

_Armory, Normandy SR2. Aprox four days post suicide mission. 0230 hours._

Jacob had been standing at his terminal for the past ten minutes; He examined a few rifles just out of need to pass the time. He snuck a quick peek at the small timer in the upper right hand side of his video screen. The current time was 2:30 a.m., at least as near as he could figure. He didn't feel much like sleeping, not with a million questions racing through his head.

Thus far Shepard was has been MIA for almost twenty-six hours and no one had any idea why. He talked to Miranda two hours ago and asked her what their next plan of action should be. In her opinion she felt it best to just wait for forty-eight hours before devising a plan, which was standard Cerberus protocol when dealing with a missing commanding officer. But he knew a lot of Shepard's crew; particularly Garrus and Tali, would be more than opposed to the idea.

He felt it would be best to order the team up to the debriefing room in order to get a stance on where they all stood on the subject.

Jacob turned raised his head to speak to EDI. "EDI can you patch me through to Miranda?"

"Of course Operative Taylor_." _EDI's synthetic voice filled the armory and he was patched through to Miranda's office.

"Hey boss you still up?" There was a short silence on her end before she acknowledged him.

"Burning the midnight oil as well Jacob?"

"Yeah couldn't sleep, and you Boss?" He arched his arms slightly at an angle to crack his shoulders with a loud pop.

"The same…You know I hate it when you call me that." Miranda said in her normal aloof manner, though clearly more weary than normal.

"C'mon you know you love to be in control of everything." Jacob teased to his clearly annoyed partner.

"Jacob is this going anywhere? Because if it isn't I was about to sign off for the night."

"You know what this is about Miranda."

"Shepard, right?" She spoke through a low yawn, obviously fatigued due to the lateness of the hour.

"Yeah, what do we do?"

"You know my stance on the issue already Jacob, so having to reiterate my opinion to you would be superfluous."

"Miranda you can't tell me you aren't even the least bit worried about him?" Jacob placed his hands on the terminal's desk and waited for her response.

"Well of course I'm worried about him. He's my friend too Jacob." She responded softly after a few seconds of silence.

"Then I'll ask again. What's our plan?"

"How the bloody hell should I know!" Miranda asked in a defensive shout.

"You know Shepard's team isn't going to just sit around while he could be dying down there, and having them divided up right now would not be the best idea." He crossed his arms across his chest in thought.

"So then what is our plan?"

Jacob chuckled lightly that she asked him what he thought they should do, which only made her even more vexed at him.

"What?"

"I was hoping you'd know the answer to that. I dunno maybe we should wait the forty-eight hours like you said."

"If you truly felt that were the best course of action, then you wouldn't have called and I would be asleep by now." She could tell that he had something on his mind and she did her best to pry it out of him. "So what do you think would be our best course Jacob?"

He mulled the question over for a minute and finally decided to come clean with his idea. "Maybe we should get Shepard's team together; see where they all stood on this whole thing, but I don't know."

"I think it's a good idea; Although don't you believe it is a bit late for that sort of thing? Perhaps it would be more productive if we were to save this idea for the morning?" She replied with a genuine sympathy to her voice.

"Sounds good I'll try and get some R&R in the meantime. Night Miranda."

"Right signing off, and Jacob…I'm sure he's fine." There was a small click to notify him that his call had ended.

Jacob exited the Amory and made his way to his quarters to get some rest, but he couldn't help but think about whether or not the commander was safe.

**~O~**

_Combat information center, Normandy SR2. Approximately four days post suicide mission. 0545 hours_.

The elevator opened slowly as Kelly Chambers re-entered the combat information center. She had a weary expression stapled on her face; her normally straight and composed hair was now a tangled mess. Her uniform was wrinkled from obvious failed attempts at sleep; she looked like hell.

Kelly had been awake for almost a full twenty-nine hours since Shepard left for the planet Arahtot. If something had indeed come up, Shepard would have at least sent a message to the Normandy: it wasn't like him to just go silent like this.

Kelly walked up to her console and activated the orange holo panel's interface to begin her work. It let out several loud chirps while it booted up and the screen came to life with several long lines of text and data. Kelly pulled up all of the Normandy's message systems, and stood statuesque at her posting.

She was busying herself; she scanned message after message for about the fifth time within the hour. Kelly had hoped that she might have overlooked something, or that maybe a new message had arrived since she last checked in. Unfortunately, nothing had changed since she last examined her terminal five minutes ago.

"Yeoman Chambers." Kelly jumped slightly from the sudden surprise of EDI's voice. "My apologies for disturbing you_."_ The synthesized voice spoke with an eerily realistic sympathy.

"It's all right EDI, how may I help you?" Kelly asked with a tired tone in her soft voice; she lightly massaged the bridge of her nose to alleviate the slight headache brought on from sleep deprivation.

"Actually I was going to offer my assistance to you, Ms. Chambers. Dr. Solus and I are growing increasingly concerned about your current condition. According to my diagnostic scans, your heart rate is lower than normal, your blood pressure levels are also higher than normal, and your blood sugar levels are dangerously low. I do not believe that you have taken any meals today nor do I recall you taking any meals yesterday."

Kelly lightly rubbed her stomach at the mention of her not eating for two days; she was so distracted by Shepard being MIA she hadn't even noticed. Since Shepard had left for Arahtot her only source of nourishment had been the occasional cup of coffee. She wasn't really all that hungry; she just wanted to make sure that Andy was ok. Kelly didn't mean to worry them.

"Thank you for your concern EDI, but really I feel fine." Kelly forced a smile and returned her attention to her console to examine the ship's com channels to see if any signals the Normandy had recently intercepted matched Shepard's signal. But to her shock her terminal's screen turned red and she was forced out; her console had just locked her out.

Kelly let out an annoyed huff when she realized why her console had suddenly locked up. "You're not going to let me get back to work, are you?" She let her elbows rest on the terminal's dashboard and she reclined sadly.

"Not until you eat at least one full meal and get a minimum of four hours bed rest . I am certain that you are aware that it would not be beneficial to have you work under such a conditions."

"But-" Kelly tried to let out one last tired protest, but she was interrupted by Joker.

"Listen Kelly I know you're worried about him; we all are. But pushing yourself like this isn't going to help. Go get some chow, take a nap, and please relax. Believe me, if EDI or I hear anything you'll be the first to know," Joker pleaded with her over the intercom.

"Fine." Kelly started to approach the elevator. The door suddenly opened and Miranda Lawson stepped out.

"Yeoman Chambers." Miranda addressed her subordinate in her usual composed manner. Lawson made her way past the yeoman and adjusted her head toward the ceiling to talk to EDI. "EDI, please send a ship-wide message to every member of Shepard's team. Have them assemble in the com room immediately." Once she finished she swiftly made her way to the ship's armory.

"Of course Operator Lawson."

"Thank you EDI." She replied quickly before disappearing behind the armory's closing door. Miranda had asked Kelly earlier if she had any idea what Shepard would be doing down there on some prison complex; after all Kelly had been present when Shepard was handed the mission from the Alliance admiral. Kelly told her everything she knew and Miranda's expression soured at the political firestorm that this mission was likely to bring. Kelly wanted to ask her if there was anything else she could do to help. But she decided that if anyone could bring Shepard back alive it was Miranda. So Kelly just pretended to work at her terminal while Miranda assembled Shepard's crew.

Jacob waited patiently at the head of the comm room's conference table for the rest of the team to assemble. He had just heard EDI's announcement over the PA system so he knew it would not be long before they arrived.

Miranda was the first to show up and she entered the room in her usual well composed manner.

"You know I'm impressed at how quickly you guys got this place back in shape." He raised his hand to the ceiling to express his thoughts. After the fight with the Collectors, the majority of the ship was either damaged or left in shambles; the comm room, in particular, had been hit hard. Examining his surroundings he could see that the large beam from the ceiling that had come loose during their assault on the Collector base had since been repaired, although it was clearly hastily done.

"Actually Daniels, Donnelly, and Tali were the ones that restored this room's electronics, while several other crewmen repaired the ceiling beams. All EDI and I have been doing is cleaning the ship of any surveillance equipment; which, in all honesty I am not a hundred percent sure that we've dealt with completely." Miranda felt it appropriate to give her subordinates praise where it was due.

"Guess we can't be too care full now that Cerberus has a target the size of a cruiser painted on our backs. I still can't believe the Illusive Man could be so god damned crazy, bastard." His brow furrowed in spite.

"I know."

Before the two could further their conversation Mordin arrived. The scientist flashed them a quick smile and took his place on Jacob's right hand side.

Eventually all of Shepard's team assembled in the room, Jack however was the last one to arrive. Once she noticed Miranda's presence the tattooed woman took a spot as far away from the head of table as the room's limited space allowed. With every member of Shepard's team present Miranda gave him a look to cue him into beginning the meeting.

"Thank you all for assembling so quickly. I'm sure you are all no doubt aware Shepard went missing over twenty-four hours ago during his mission on Arahtot. Miranda and I have called this meeting in order to see where everyone stood on what our next course of action should be."

Mordin was the first of Shepard's squad mates to offer their thoughts. "Hmm. Could perhaps be hardware fault within suit. Or could be in an area where communication problematic."

Jacob shook his head no and planted his hands squarely on the table. "Doubt it, doc I inspected the armor myself. It was scratched up yeah, dirty definitely, but damaged? Not in the slightest."

"Besides, his signatures were functioning normally up until yesterday afternoon. After that, they just dropped off the grid." Miranda interjected into the conversation.

The reactions of Shepard's teammates impressed her. Some were silent and averted their gazes, while others had pained expressions of concern and worry pinned across their faces.

Tali clutched her hands and rubbed them together in an uncomfortable fashion, "You…You mean he's dead?" She spoke quietly and never took her eyes off of Taylor. Garrus joined Tali in her gaze at Jacob and Miranda. Both had hoped either officer could provide an answer.

Miranda shook her head in disagreement. "No, up until yesterday his life signs were visible and completely normal; now EDI can't even pick up a signal to indicate whether he is alive or dead." She gestured to Mordin, "So it probably means that either ' hypothesis is correct and Shepard is in an area where he cannot establish proper communications. Or his signal is being actively blocked by an unknown source." The raven haired XO suggested.

"You think that the Batarians did this? Do they even have the kind of tech that is capable of actively blocking Cer-erm…ex-Cerberus encrypted channels? I've worked with a Batarian technician back on Omega; he told me the Batarians don't have the raw resources available to create sophisticated tech like that." Garrus interjected into the conversation.

The Batarian Hegemony was largely an isolationist government. Even if they were not; the Batarian's hostile actions towards the other races have rendered them on a similar level to the Quarians within the galactic community. However, unlike the Quarians, the Batarians did not posses their technical abilities.

""True. Cerberus encrypted channels are almost impossible to hack; or block for that matter. And for the batarians to do this they would need some of the best tech available; which is expensive, difficult to obtain, extremely delicate, and extremely unlikely to be on some prison complex for slaves." Miranda responded to the Turian's input.

Garrus gripped his chin within his three fingered hand and his mandibles wiggled as he contemplated this new data.

"So what is our plan?" Thane inquired.

"What do you mean _what's our plan?_" Grunt boomed as he brought his fists together. "We go down there and we start cracking skulls until they tell us where Shepard is." Tali nodded her head in agreement to Grunt's suggested plan.

"I agree with Grunt; if Shepard is in some kind of trouble we can't just leave him down there." The young Quarian said furiously.

"Sounds good." Jacob cracked his knuckles loudly in response.

"No." Miranda added to quell the bad idea quickly. "We don't even know what's going on down there, and if we run down there blindly we're just going to make things worse." Legion then stepped forward to offer its thoughts to the group.

"We agree with Lawson, Miranda. We recommend gathering as much available data as possible in order to properly formulate a coherent consensus." The geth's servo motors let out several small grinding noises as it moved in place.

"I concur, without a proper plan of action our efforts would only be doomed to failure." Samara added in her usual well composed demeanor.

"So what, we just sit on our hands and do nothing while Shepard might be dying?" Tali stated in disgust at the three turning their backs on Shepard.

"Tali, I understand you're concerned about Shepard's safety; trust me we all are. And make no mistake Tali I don't make a habit of leaving my friends to die. But if what I've heard from Kelly Chambers is true, then we are dealing with political dynamite." Miranda spoke to the young Quarian with a genuine sympathy to her voice.

"Whoa hold up Miranda, what're you talking about?" Jacob asked her while he lightly scratched his chin out of confusion.

Miranda turned her attention away from her subordinate to address the group directly. "According to her; his mission was to extract some Alliance doctor from a Batarian prison. If we do interfere then we need to do so cautiously; otherwise we could inadvertently cause an all out war between the Batarian Hegemony and the Alliance." Miranda spoke while she placed both her hands on the table. The room went silent while the team digested this sudden hitch in their plans. After a few minutes of heavy silence Jack finally added her two cents into the matter.

"Shit. That dumb ass' mission was in squint territory and he went _alone? _What an idiot." She stated in disbelief while she leaned against the door.

Garrus and Tali immediately turned their attention to her. Both gave her cold, angry stares; although she could only see Garrus' since Tali's helmet protected Jack from the most of it.

"You've got some sense of loyalty Jack." Garrus accused angrily.

"Look shit for brains, Shepard could've taken any of us, but what'd he do? He just went down there solo. So the way I see it he's the one who stuck his dick in the varren's mouth." She rolled her eyes annoyed at the turian's attempts to spook her.

Garrus started to approach her; followed closely by Tali. He pointed one of his three fingers at her, "What the hell is your problem; don't psychopaths have even the smallest shred of respect?"

"Hey bird-brain, Shepard's my friend too and believe me I'm not shying away from a fight. But all I'm saying is that it's because of his dumb-shit call that he's stuck in the shit right now!"

"Enough you three!" Miranda said in an authorative tone that made even Jack look at her.

Jack stepped past Garrus and Tali and smiled cruelly at her. Her biotics flared up even more intensely and she talked to Miranda. "You want a piece cheerleader?" She cracked her knuckles loudly.

"Jack, while you may not like me-" Miranda started to say but was interrupted swiftly by Jack.

"To put it mildly." Jack said in agreement.

Miranda shook her head. "While you may not like me, all I'm asking is that you try to control your audacious behavior. If you truly care about Shepard and not just yourself, then you will calm down and work with us affably so that we can coordinate a plan. Otherwise you can return to your quarters." Miranda spoke as cool as she could allow herself to. She really hated Jack; but she knew that starting an all out biotic brawl would be counter-productive.

Jack let out a huff of disgust; but surprisingly her biotics powered down in response to Miranda's request. "Fine Cheerleader, guess I owe Shepard that much." Jack went back to resting her back against the door, while Garrus and Tali went back to their respective positions beside Mordin.

"Thank you Jack." Miranda said with a forced respectful tone. Jack responded with a glare and flipped her off.

Jacob continued. "Normally standard Cerberus protocols in regards to a missing commanding officer are to allow forty-eight hours before we can dispatch a recon team." he looked to the crew and seeing the sea of suspicious faces brought up his hands in defense. "And even though this isn't a Cerberus vessel anymore Miranda and I still think that's our best course of action right now. After forty-six hours we will regroup and figure out what to do next from there. In the mean the time, I suggest returning to your stations and standby for further instructions. But no matter what though we're not going to give up on finding Shepard; alive or dead we're bringing him home. Crew, dismissed." He spoke firmly.

Jack left the room in a huff and gave a disesteemed wave of her hand to refute their plan. Garrus and Tali nodded their heads in unison and left together in silence. Thane placed his hands behind his back and walked stoically out of the room. Samara walked out of the room beside Kasumi, neither uttered a sound. Grunt shook his head in disbelief and walked out with Zaeed. Only Mordin, Jacob and Miranda remained in the room.

Jacob looked to Miranda and sighed with relief, "Damn I am so glad you could talk that girl down. She's crazy with a capital C." Miranda placed her hand gingerly to her forehead and rubbed it lightly out mental exhaustion.

"She is a minor petulance Jacob, and nothing more. In truth, I feel we have importunate pursuits to concern ourselves with then some asinine woman." She shifted her weight to her left side and folded her arms across her chest. "I care more about Shepard's safety than I hate Jack." She adjusted her posture and wrapped her arms around her chest.

Mordin stayed behind to converse with his colleagues. "Yes nicely stated Lawson. Shepard would approve." Mordin flashed her a respectful smile. "If I may have questions concerning Shepard."

Jacob motioned to the salarian "Speak freely Professor."

Mordin inhaled sharply, which was usually his indicator that he had a great deal to say. "When signal was last received what was its composition?"

Jacob had a perplexed look on him and Miranda figured the question had completely gone over him. "The signal; Doctor, as we have stated was not unusual up until it cut out. Then past that point there was nothing." She came to Jacob's defense.

"Yes. Gathered that much, what I meant was no unusual fluctuations before signal loss? Perhaps spikes in heart rate? Oxygen level instabilities? Or maybe neurological agent that prevented proper electron transfers within cerebral cortex?"

Jacob turned his head to address Miranda. She rolled her eyes at her teammate's inability to once again understand the doctor's technical terminology. Once again she felt it necessary to intervene. "Up until the signals dropped out everything checked out. However afterwards there were a few isolated incidents of unusual activity." Miranda raised her hand slightly to draw their attention to her.

"What? And you only thought to mention that now?" Jacob incredulously asserted.

"I only felt it irrelevant because as I stated the anomalies only occurred at short, isolated intervals. Had the disturbances been more prevalent and widespread throughout the transmission I could have been able to gather a more concrete thesis."

"Right, sorry." Jacob calmed himself and Mordin motioned to her to continue.

"Please elaborate Miranda."

"Before his signals cut EDI tracked several large spikes in his adrenaline levels; as well unusual outputs of his serotonin levels, more specifically a boost in production of 5-HT2A receptors. It was that accrual stimuli that made me question the signal read out."

Jacob's face became a question mark. He tried to speak but was completely lost. "His 5-HT2 wha…? That even English?"

Mordin cleared his throat and offered his thoughts to collaborate with Miranda. "Ah yes unusual indeed. Which potential agent could have caused such increased output? Perhaps biological agent? No would have shown up on scan. Maybe airborne toxin or chemical contamination? Unlikely, internal hard suit Geiger counter would've been detected anomaly. Batarians could be controlling his actions through subtle neurological inhibitors? Slaver chips or neurological restraints."

"Unlikely or EDI would have detected his difference in brain chemistry. This was something completely different. Although I was fortunate to get readouts on the anomalies myself; the disturbances were so infrequent and were over just as soon as I picked them up. I could hardly track them."

"Hmm…Would you like me to run analysis on collected data. Perhaps something else is present that may have been overlooked?" Mordin offered respectfully.

"Thank you Doctor but I'm afraid you'd only strain yourself further. I'll run my own analysis. If I pull up anything of interest I'll inform you immediately." Miranda nodded at the doctor as a gesture of appreciation.

"Of course will be in lab in meantime; should you require my assistance." The scientist politely excused himself, but stopped briefly to relay an additional concern. "Oh, and recommend Yeoman Chambers be restricted from any strenuous activity. Have been collaborating with EDI and have discovered problematic readouts."

"Like what?" Jacob crossed his arms and waited for the doctor's report.

"Sugar levels extremely low, irregular heart rate, as well as neurological activity consistent with human insomnia. Also showing severe symptoms of depression. Recommend delicate approach when conversing with her; believe she is handling potential loss of mate poorly." Both of the officers stared at each other as the doctor once again began his approach to his laboratory.

"Damn I forgot about how she'd be handling it." Jacob awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. Miranda crossed her arms and let out a disappointed sigh.

"This is what Cerberus' guidelines strictly state about off duty fraternization. We need her fully dispassionate, otherwise what good is she to us?"

"Miranda don't you think that's a little harsh?"

"Not in the slightest. Yeoman Chambers should already fully understand her boyfriend's profession, and any worrying on her part is simply extraneous."

Jacob shrugged lightly "Doesn't mean it won't happen. Maybe I should go talk to her; try and calm her down?" Miranda shook her head almost immediately.

"I don't believe you would even know where to begin Jacob. No offense intended, but your repartee with women is not exactly ideal." She was slightly amused at the idea of her colleague's impeding embarrassment.

"Oh and I suppose you're the foremost authority on _matters of the heart_?"

"No. But I am a woman Jacob. I believe that already scales the odds more so in my favor." She smiled at him.

"Well if you insist. Just please try not to say anything to crush her too badly Miranda. Let's just say your demeanor can sometimes be a bit frosty."

She arched a brow at her colleague "Granted that may bear some legitimacy; I understand that she is in a delicate state of mind and having her carry forward like this will only create more problems than what we already have." Jacob nodded in approval and she started to make her way to the door.

Jacob remained a few minutes before casting one last glance at the orange hologram of the Normandy that suspended over the mahogany conference table; then left the room shaking his head at the situation.

Kelly, meanwhile, had been standing at her workstation for the past hour; since EDI had locked her out of her terminal so she couldn't work, no matter how much she wanted to. Kelly had seen Garrus and wanted to talk to him for any possible updates, but he was busy talking to Tali.

Miranda emerged from the armory and spoke again to EDI. "EDI please inform me when our time reaches 0500 hours tomorrow morning; I'll be in my office until then. Should the crew have any questions tell them to address me or Operative Taylor personally." She made her way towards the elevator.

_Understood . _EDI replied to her in her usual cool, emotionless voice. Kelly walked up to Miranda and the raven haired officer turned slightly to address her presence.

"Miranda, do you have a minute?" Kelly asked with a forced cheer. Miranda activated the panel and nodded out of approval.

"Of course Ms. Chambers, I had hoped to share a word with you. What's your inquiry?" Miranda asked curiously.

"What's the situation, with Shepard I mean?" She gave Miranda a pleading gaze. Miranda rubbed her hands together uncomfortably while she figured out a way to explain the details gently to the young yeoman.

After a minute of unbearable silence Miranda finally decided to just come out with it "We don't know Kelly. But rest assured we're doing everything we can to find out." She had tried to sound reassuring but only came off as distant.

"Is there anything else I can do to help Miranda; anything at all? Please can't you just tell me something? I'm going crazy just sitting here. I… I just want to know, please." Kelly asked desperately while her emerald eyes met with her commanding officer's cobalt eyes.

"Kelly…" Miranda spoke softly. "…Right now we don't even know what's going on down there. Hell we don't even know if he's alive or…" Miranda saw that Kelly had the most pained expression in her eyes that she'd ever seen out of the yeoman.

Miranda quickly adjusted her tone to a more sympathetic one. "…Or if he's been captured, but no matter what we're bringing him back. I promise." Kelly closed her eyes remorsefully to avoid Miranda's gaze. Her XO placed her hand gently on her shoulder; "But in the meantime I entreat you to listen to Dr. Solus' and EDI's exhortations. Eat something, and take a small interlude from your duties. That's an order." She offered a comforting smile to her subordinate.

"Yes ma'am." Kelly replied obediently and Miranda walked into the elevator and departed.

**~O~**

_Crew Deck, Normandy SR2. Aprox four days post suicide mission. 0700 hours._

Gardner was busy washing dishes when Kelly rounded the corner to the crew mess. The spots at the table normally reserved for Hawthorne and his female associate Goldstein were currently empty probably due to the time, which was barely past seven a.m.

Kelly approached the kitchen counter and spoke with a forced happiness to Gardner. "Hi Rupert, what're you doing up so early?" She offered him a weary smile.

"Just working my dear." He smiled at the red head while he dried off a serving tray. "Tell me what brings you down to my neck of the woods?" He looked to Kelly, whom was busy rubbing the back of her neck to soothe a sharp pain in her neck from fatigue.

"Dr. Solus and Miranda said I should eat something. They were getting worried about me since I haven't eaten for two days." Kelly offered the chef and he happily brought his hands together.

"Say no more ma'am. You just take a seat and tell me what ever you got the munchies for and I'll cook it." Gardner replied; excited that he could finally explore his full array of culinary expertise. Kelly wrapped her arm around her abdomen while she contemplated what to ask for. Kelly didn't have much of an appetite; especially after everything that she had just heard from Miranda. But then she started to think of Andy and the first time he had invited her up to his cabin…

Rupert had cooked them breakfast and they shared it in his cabin. They just talked for hours. They never even touched the grandiose omelette that Gardner had prepared for them. Andy made her laugh harder than she ever had, even back in her college days. He was so charming and just absolutely gorgeous.

Eventually she asked how someone like him was still single. He explained how he wasn't always single. That at one point he actually almost wasn't; he told her about a woman that served under his command on the original Normandy. Her name was Ashley Williams; he told Kelly about how the two used to spend hours talking. Andreas even admitted that at one point the two were even more than just friends. But then he told her about his mission on Virmire. Where he had to destroy a cloning facility that rogue spectre Saren Arterius had established there.

Saren apparently had been developing a cure for the Krogan genophage. The council had sent him and his team to the planet to investigate. However when Shepard arrived he and his team found that the infiltration team dispatched by the council was severely depleted; in the end Shepard was forced to divide his team in half in order to supplement their numbers. Williams went with the salarian special forces team for a distraction run, while his XO Kaidan Alenko accompanied him to arm the IED.

But things went badly and eventually Shepard was forced to chose; secure Alenko and the explosive, or go rescue Williams. Shepard ran off as fast as he could to rescue her, but she yelled at him over his radio for him not to come for her. Shepard started to plead with her. He said that she meant everything to him and that he had to save her.

But Ashley told him it was ok. She told him she was never one to be tied down by something like two kids, a white picket fence, and a dog. Shepard laughed at her joke, but he knew she was lying because he heard her chocking back tears with every word. He reluctantly made his way back to Alenko and he told her "I love you" for what he knew would be the last time.

Ash told him that she loved him too and that she always would, but Shepard had to promise not to hold onto her. That he had to move on and live his life for the both of them.

Then gunshots cut into their heartfelt good-bye. He heard a few cries of pained screams and then static. She was gone.

Kelly remembered how grief-stricken he looked at the time and how his head lowered out of remorse for his short comings as a leader. Normally she could handle stories of tragedy. After all she'd heard them a dozen times over, from over a dozen different people. Except this time it was different; this time she actually had feelings for her patient, maybe even more than just a professional concern for his mental state. She actually felt a genuine sorrow for his loss, and could feel his pain as though it had happened to her.

Kelly placed her hand on his; a tender expression overlay her face. She apologized for him being thrown into that position. Kelly regretted that he had to make a choice like that.

Shepard smiled gratefully at her and thanked her for listening to him, but he argued that she shouldn't have any of his past weigh down on her conscious. Andreas thanked her for indulging him though and said that just having her there with him meant a lot.

At that point Kelly couldn't hide her feelings from him any longer; not that she wanted to. She made a lunge for the commander and wrapped her hands around his squared jaw. Kelly brought his lips to hers and forcefully kissed him. Shepard's eyes widened with shock not that his surprise stopped him from reciprocating her affection. Especially when he wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her even closer to him; knocking over their breakfast in the process.

After a few minutes of passionate kissing their awkward positioning had caused his chair to give out and the two landed on the hard metal floor, screaming in laughter.

Shepard slammed his head against the sofa behind him when he landed and he let out a pained grunt in response. He had tried to apologize to Kelly for the roughhousing; but the red haired vixen cut him off mid-sentence with another messy, tongue filled kiss.

Kelly wanted him, she had always wanted him. From the minute she saw him all those years ago in the vids from the council chambers when he was made humanity's first human spectre she knew she had to have him.

She gently raised his shirt in order to feel his bare flesh against her hands; he didn't seem to mind her urges one bit. Kelly felt along every crevice and centimeter of Shepard's sculpted abdomen. God, it drove her insane. She just wanted to savor every minute with him that morning. Fortunately both their lips were glued together, and she massaged his tongue with her own while they feverishly and intensely kissed.

Kelly wanted more, so she raised his shirt even higher. His shirt eventually ended up just slightly below his pectoral muscles; to where his six pack abdomen came into full view. His muscled core was so firm and perfect she just wanted him then and there.

But to her surprise Shepard actually wanted something from her. Since Kelly had snuck a peak at him, he felt it only fair that he be given the same opportunity.

He adjusted himself so that she was underneath him and he was on top of her; all the while never pulling his lips from hers. Ordinarily she never would have thought such a maneuver was possible given their limited space. But then that was Andy, always doing the impossible.

Once he was situated on top of her he unbuckled her belt so he could lift up her shirt. She didn't even try to stop him; in all honesty she wanted him to remove it. He only raised it above her stomach, but Andreas could've raised it even higher for all she cared.

Shepard tore his lips from hers, much to her disappointment. That was at least until he began to plant soft kisses on her abdomen. It felt unbelievable to her and she let out several quiet moans of ecstasy. Kelly's hand clutched his jet black hair while he worked and her moans grew even louder as he continued.

Finally after a few minutes of tortured separation Kelly finally brought his lips back to hers again. But their passionate exchange only lasted for only a few precious minutes before the two were forcefully interrupted by Joker. He told Shepard that they would be docking into the Nos Astra spaceport soon. Shepard wanted to stay, but she knew he had to leave. Shepard rested his forehead on hers and let out a sigh, disappointed that the two couldn't go further. Kelly laughed warmly and gave him a kiss on the cheek, before the two hugged one last time and readjusted their clothing.

"Chambers? You who! Chambers?" Gardner snapped her back to reality after a minute of silence. The red head had spaced out again and left another crewman talking to themselves.

"Sorry Rupert, just thinking about something that's all." Kelly smiled at the patient man. She had tried to shrug off her distracted nature on her hunger, but she doubted even she would believe it. Rupert just shrugged, even if he didn't believe her it's not like he would pry.

"So, Ms. Chambers whatcha hungry for?" he pretended to fetch an invisible pen and paper.

_He must've been talking to Kasumi lately. _She immediately mused when she saw him mimic her friend's recent behavior. But she did have an idea of what she wanted, something that would make her feel comfortable.

"Rupert, would you mind making me one of your amazing omelettes please." Kelly asked the chef in a polite manner.

He gave her a gentleman's bow and happily stated in a poor rendition of a French accent "Not only can I, but it would be my pleasure. Now just sit back, and relax Mademoiselle. And I will prepare for you the best omelette this side of Paris." She laughed and gave him a real smile.

"Merci beaucoup Monsieur Gardner." She replied. Rupert gave her a surprised look; he clearly did not know that she knew French. In all honestly French was one of the many languages she was versed in. Truthfully she knew almost every human language still in use including; Spanish, French, Mandarin, even some alien languages like Turian and Asari. Kelly was a people person after all, but she corrected herself to allay Gardner's confusion. "It means thank you very much." Kelly smiled warmly at her friend.

"Oh!" He let out a hearty laugh, and then made his way to the stove to turn on the gas burner. Gardner walked to the fridge and began to fetch the ingredients necessary for his culinary escapade. Once all the provisions were laid out on the kitchen counter he began to mince several spinach leaves, a red onion, some mushrooms, and cheeses on his cutting board.

Kelly was about to take a seat when she bumped into her new friend. Garrus' armor felt like running into a brick wall; fortunately she had only just started to move or else it definitely would've hurt a lot more. "Oh, Garrus I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."

The turian nodded his head "It's alright Chambers. Listen, do you have a minute?"

Kelly smiled and gestured to the empty dining table. "Sure I was just going to sit down to one of Gardner's delicious omelettes. Care to join…" Kelly caught herself and flushed red. "Oh! Garrus I didn't mean to offend you. I know you can't eat human food, god that was so insensitive I'm sorry." She spoke in an extremely apologetic manner. But Garrus just laughed and gave her another turian smile.

"Relax Kelly; you were just trying to be friendly. I know you didn't mean anything by it. Besides if you really wanted to offend me then you wouldn't have apologized." Garrus strolled over to the table and took his seat. Kelly joined him across the table.

"So what's on your mind Garrus?"

"Calibrations mostly, and you?" Garrus teased and motioned to the yeoman.

Kelly shrugged her shoulders lightly and adjusted herself in the seat. "Nothing really, just thinking…" She tried to distract him so Garrus wouldn't really ask about what was really bothering her. But he almost immediately saw through her poor attempts.

Garrus wrapped his fingers together on the table and looked into her eyes. "About Shepard?"

She blushed and tried to deny it. "Andreas? No I… I just." Kelly saw his face grow serious. He obviously wasn't buying it. Garrus raised his hand as a gesture for her to stop lying.

"Kelly I may not have a degree in psychology, but I was in C-Sec for over ten years I can smell a lie a kilometer away." His posture then relaxed and he whispered lightly to her. "I know you're thinking about Shepard. You don't have to make excuses for it, because we all are. But we're friends Kelly you can talk to me. Turian's honor, nothing that you say will leave this table." He placed his left hand over his chest plate to mimic a human swear gesture. She raised a brow at her friend.

"Something wrong Kelly?"

Kelly quickly reeled herself back into the conversation. "Oh no, I was just curious. Is that how Turians declare an oath? I haven't actually seen a turian take a vow before."

"Really don't humans in the alliance swear an oath of service?"

"Oh well of course; it's just that most humans place their hand over their heart when they do." She brought her right arm slightly above her left breast and placed it there to express what she meant.

Garrus cupped his right hand within his left and let his shoulders rest on the table. "I was placing my hand over my heart. The turian heart is on the right hand side of the body, is it in a different spot for humans? I never was an expert in xenobiology. Let me guess it's near the stomach?"

Kelly giggled at her friend's efforts at making her feel better. "No, it's near the left breast right where my hand is. What makes you say that Garrus?" She gleamed happily at her friend's curiosity.

"Oh, well remember that team I had back on Omega. One of my human squad mates liked to talk about his wife a lot. He tried to invite me over to his home so I can meet his family; his wife always used to tell him that the _best way to a guy's heart is through his stomach. _I just assumed that was where it was for humans."

Kelly laughed even harder but stopped herself so that Garrus wouldn't think she was poking fun at him on purpose. "Oh, Garrus. That's just an expression. When someone wants to get to know someone better in human culture they offer food as a gesture of peace, hence the expression."

The Turian arched his brow plates back in a mutual understanding. "Oh, well now I see why it's funny. So where we?" He used his left index finger to motion for her to continue.

"I think I was trying to draw your attention away from the fact that I was worrying Shepard, and was failing miserably." She closed her eyes sadly and cupped her elbows within each palm.

She sighed quietly and looked into Garrus' pitch black eyes. "I just miss him Garrus, I just…I feel so useless. I just hate knowing that he's down there dying and I can't do anything to help him!" She angrily whispered to him. Kelly looked at her compatriot's well composed face and realized how she allowed herself to fly off the handle.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to get angry at you Garrus. You didn't deserve that." She changed her tone back to a softer one.

Garrus reclined in his seat; "I'm just surprised that you can actually get angry. You're always so damn cheerful and happy. It's just nice to know you can get pissed off at the situation just like everyone else."

Kelly laughed lightly at that; "I'm glad you enjoyed it…" her happiness was short lived. "I just don't know what to do Garrus. If anything happened to Andreas… I…" She quickly averted her eyes from his so she could wipe a few new tears that just showed up.

"Hey, Kelly, it's ok I'm worried about him too. But torturing yourself like this isn't going to help get him back any quicker." Her friend replied softly. "You need to stay strong, dust yourself off and pick yourself back up. And if you can't do that last part…" Garrus shrugged. "…then that's what friends are for." Garrus smiled and excused himself from the table.

"Garrus" Kelly looked to her friend and he stopped to give her an over the shoulder glance. "Thank you." she replied gratefully. Garrus nodded and returned to his quarters.

"Here's your meal dear." Gardner placed the lovely breakfast in front of her. It smelt amazing; steam drifted from the plate and she inhaled its scent gratefully. The omelette looked like it belonged on the menu of a fancy five star restaurant. The omelette had a light covering of melted cheese, mozzarella she believed judging from its composition and smell. There were several loose hanging mushrooms and red onions that bled from its fold. She never really cared for onions, but Gardner had been nice enough to make her this meal so she felt it best not to belittle his offering.

Gardner stood by her side for a few seconds; like any artist he waited for critique on his work. Kelly gingerly lifted her dining utensil to her mouth to take the piece of the meal she had cut with her spork. Loose strings of cheese and mushrooms desperately clung to the tiny bit of food and she consumed the small morsel happily.

"Mmmmm…" She let out a contented moan. It was probably the best omelette she'd ever had. Kelly gave him a smile and thumbs up in approval of the meal.

"Enjoy yourself Ms. Chambers. I'll be in my office if ya need me." Gardner removed his chef's apron and he made his way back behind the kitchen counter.

The meal itself truly was exquisite, but Kelly couldn't help but wish Andy were there. Sitting across the table smiling at her like he always did. She could almost smell the shampoo that Shepard used for his hair; some combination of ginseng and mint that always made her feel warm inside. She wished he was there so she could tell him how much she missed him, how much she loved him. She started to tear up.

"_NO!_" Kelly thought angrily. "_No more crying Kelly! It's time to suck it up. Andy is coming back, and it's just like Garrus said torturing my self isn't going to help anyone._" She set her spork down on her plate and closed her eyes in thought. She opened her eyes again after a few seconds to look at her plate. Kelly shrugged off her negative thoughts viciously and picked up her spork in order to ravenously eat another piece of her meal.


	10. Chapter 10

Ch 9 The Few for the Many

_Horizon, Shadow Sea, Iera system. Approximately twelve weeks pre-suicide mission. 1440 hours._

Shepard ejected a clip from his mattock and walked closer towards the space port's terminal. It was unusually hot on Horizon's surface considering the time of year. Jacob rested against a nearby crate to regain his composure, and let out several loud inhales to gulf down precious gulps of air. Taylor was a powerful biotic, but not an invincible one. He'd really been draining himself fighting all those husks that surrounded the base of the tower, not that Shepard was doing much better. All that fighting was really beginning to wear him out too; he took his time to wipe a few beads of sweat that had gathered on his brow. The only one who was truly unfazed by all the intense fighting was Miranda, though that was hardly surprising. She nonchalantly stepped over a few charred husk corpses, and made her way to the console at the base of the tower.

She input a few keystrokes in order to establish a link between the tower and the Normandy. "Shepard I've managed to establish communications with the Normandy. I'm uploading the transmission signal to your omni-tool now."

"Excellent work Miranda, thanks." Shepard raised his omni-tool to speak to EDI. "Normandy do you copy?"

Joker was the one who picked up the call. "Joker here, the signal is weak Commander but we got you."

"EDI can you get the colony's defense's back up and running?"

"Errors in the calibration software are easily rectified; however it will take time before the defense cannons are fully operational. I recommend fortifying a defensive position. I will not be able to mask the increased generator activity," the A.I. warned him. Shepard gave a glance to his ground team; Miranda nodded in understanding and Jacob rolled his eyes at the news.

"King of the hill with Collectors, fun stuff…" Jacob pulled back on his eviscerator's fore-end to eject a spent thermal clip.

Shepard shook his teammate's cantankerous remark off and asked snidely. "Got any other helpful advice EDI?"

"Only that you should ready weapons, I am detecting a large mass of thermal signatures on approach to your location." But before EDI could even finish her sentence, Shepard heard Jacob confirm her warning.

"Incoming!"

"Get to cover!" Miranda screamed.

Suddenly, dozens of Collector drones flooded the plaza each one fired their rifles at the trio. Shepard made a roll for a large crate in order to shield himself from the oncoming fire. Miranda took her position next to him and cocked her shuriken. Hot steam emitted from the small sidearm as it readied to fire. She shook her head slightly to move her hair from her eyes, fired a barrage at a nearby drone, sending it flying back from the blasts.

Shepard fired a full clip of mattock rounds at an approaching Collector. The creature let out several disgusting insect like cries as it fell. Even though the three squad mates were putting up a good fight they could tell they were outnumbered. For every one Collector they would put down, another three more arrived.

Jacob slid into a piece of cover closer to Shepard and shotgunned a nearby Collector. The creature's head exploded, and its knees buckled under the dead weight of its torso. The remaining drones continued to fire at them while Shepard's team did their best to hold them back. EDI made contact with Shepard through his earpiece to give him an update. "Progress at 15%; please continue to hold the tower."

Miranda leaned out of the corner of Shepard's cover and hit a Collector heavy unit in its knee, causing the creature to fumble forward. Jacob finished it off with a blast from his eviscerator and receded into cover. "Damn it! They must've sent every damn Collector that wasn't busy abducting colonists after us!" Taylor yelled to Shepard as the enemy's numbers continued to swell.

"No bloody kidding!" Miranda agreed with her teammate's blatantly obvious assessment.

"It doesn't matter we can do this…shit!" Shepard slammed his rifle into the skull of a Collector that tried to grab him. He heard the creature's skull crack from the blunt force, and he gave it a quick double tap from his mattock to finish it off. "We just have to hold the tower till EDI brings the defenses back up! I'm not letting these bastards steal one more civilian!" he screamed and brought down another two more drones with well placed shots from his mattock.

Suddenly an ambient voice cut into the crowd of drones, one of the creatures began to convulse and scream loudly. "Incompetence, I will direct this personally." The creature emitted a sickly yellow aura as its arms bent back and forth. Shepard could hear the faint sounds of snapping bones over the gun fire, as the creature's wings changed shape into horrid spikes that ran along its spine. Its flesh cracked and a sickly yellow glow emitted from its every crevice. The creature was lifted into the air and a bright explosion of golden light emitted from its eyes.

"Shepard another one of those augmented Collectors!" Miranda alerted him.

"Focus fire!" Shepard ordered them; he'd hoped to catch the creature off guard before its barrier could come online. But it was already too late and whatever that thing was had already taken hold of the creature's body. It raised its hand, and the team's bullets simply repulsed off of the beings near impenetrable barriers. "You are vermin. Overwhelm them!" The creature spoke in an echoed voice and the Collectors acknowledged its command. Every one of its minions began to move up on Shepard's team.

They were under too much fire; over a dozen of the creatures' particle rifles were firing on them, and Shepard turned his attention to his teammates. "Guys, I'll cover you, fall back." He leaned his rifle partially out of cover to bring down a Collector carrying a heavy weapon.

"What? Out of the question, we aren't leaving you." Miranda fired a warp blast at a nearby Collector and it exploded in a furry of bright purple element zero energy.

"This isn't up for debate, now move!" Shepard leapt from cover to draw the Collector's attention and every particle rifle that was formerly focused on their cover followed him.

"Damn it!" Miranda begrudgingly followed his command and moved across the courtyard in order to gain a better position on the enemies with Jacob not far behind her.

A few of the Collector troops saw through the ruse and returned their focus on Shepard's teammates. However the group's leader broadcasted another order to his slaves. "His minions are insignificant. Focus on Shepard." Shepard took advantage of the creatures that attempted to follow Miranda and Jacob, using the break in fire to kill a few more of them.

Their leader grew enraged and threw up a massive barrier to coat the remaining soldiers. "Neutralize Commander Shepard!" A curtain of molten shells and bullets pierced Shepard's flimsy cover. There was too much fire on him and Miranda turned to Jacob who had taken up position in a crate adjacent to her.

"Jacob, maneuver Alpha-07!" Miranda's hands began to glow with a thin veil of cobalt energy.

Jacob nodded in agreement and holstered his eviscerator to focus his biotic energy. Both Taylor and Miranda both took in long, steady, breaths in preparation for their attack. Taylor then let out a loud grunt and a massive wave of biotic energy smashed into a Collector drone that was unshielded and he lifted a group of over five collectors into the air.

Miranda brought her right arm a few feet behind her and she thrust her arm forward with a massive warp field. The two powers combined and Shepard made a break for a different piece of cover in order to avoid the massive explosion.

A salvo of bright cobalt and lavender energy consumed the airborne Collector units including their leader. Shepard ducked behind a nearby bench in order to avoid the shockwave of dust and dirt that swelled around the blast zone. Shepard looked to Miranda and Jacob and laughed. "You guys all right?"

"No." Jacob replied breathlessly and placed his hand on a low crate to support himself.

"We're fine." She gave Jacob a leer and adjusted her hair casually, but even she showed signs of slight fatigue.

Shepard let out a smile and was about to approach them when he heard something. The dust around the impact zone dissipated and the Collector leader emerged unharmed. "Your attacks are an insult."

"Goddamn it what does it take to kill this thing!" Jacob cried out in a mixture of shock and exasperation.

But before either party could respond the creature flung a massive stream of fire and electricity towards the Commander. Shepard dodged the attacks as best he could, but this Collector was different room the others. It was stronger, faster, and deadlier than the normal Collectors he'd just fought. Shepard knew he had to give it his all, or this thing would kill him. He ran for the furthest piece of available cover while Jacob and Miranda pelted it with bullets.

"Jacob, do you have enough left in you for another Alpha-07?" Miranda inquired.

"You kidding boss? After that combo you're lucky I'm still on my feet. I would need a minute I'm exhausted." Jacob ejected a clip from his pistol in order to keep the pressure up.

"You've got thirty seconds." She replied in a huff.

Shepard avoided a smash of biotic energy that impacted his cover. He raised his left hand to his ear in order to talk to EDI. "EDI, what's the status of those goddamned defense towers!" He used his right hand to withdraw the Collector heavy weapon that he found near the housing complexes.

"Tower functionality at 55% please continue to hold position." Shepard rolled his eyes at the poor news and leaned out of cover to fire his heavy weapon. The muzzle of the alien weapon's muzzle split open at the tip; a stream of dust and electricity swirled around it. Shepard's weapon screamed as a long stream of golden plasma fired from its chamber at the leader.

The Collector leader brought his arm up to shield it from the attack. Instead of blocking the attack however, the beam sheered its arm off at the elbow. The creature let out several loud cries, and a yellow viscous fluid bled from its wound. The creature hobbled back gripping its new stump in pain. "This body's pain is irrelevant."

The Collector reinforced its barriers to shield it from the oncoming fire from the trio. Using its remaining arm it raised a corpse of one the fallen soldiers and psionically ripped the corpse's forearm off. Loud, wet, cracks of fresh bone filled their ears and Shepard watched in horror as it reattached its missing limb. The horrid monstrosity wiggled its newly acquired hand to ensure that the attachment took. "Pain is an illusion." It then dropped the corpse and continued its attack.

The beast aimed its own weapon at Shepard and seared a large chunk of his cover off with a single blast. Shepard's team approached it from behind and Jacob pelted it with eviscerator rounds, while Miranda smashed a few powerful warp fields into it.

Their attacks were stopped when the monster hurled Miranda against a crate with its own biotics. She let out a cry of pain when she impacted against the hard crate, and Jacob rushed to her side firing a barrage of shells in defense to keep it from finishing her off. "Human; viable possibility, great biotic potential." It raised its hand to deliver a death blow to the two wounded squad mates, but Shepard quickly emerged from cover and fired another large stream of energy from his cannon.

The blast punctured the monster's chest cavity and narrowly missed cutting down Taylor on the opposite side. Yellow liquid poured from the hole and the creature turned on its heel, angrily waving its right arm in order to send a massive biotic attack toward Shepard. "You escaped us before, Shepard, not again." It rushed toward him with a new purpose in mind, killing him. Shepard dodged its energy blasts and fired more plasma streams at it in order to draw it away from his teammate's position.

Jacob touched Miranda's shoulder to rouse her from her setback. "Miranda, anything broken?"

"No, come on Shepard needs us." She rose wearily to her feet and the two made their way towards the Collector general.

Shepard fired another stream from his Collector plasma cannon at the abomination, but its barrier absorbed most of the punishment. "If I must tear you apart Shepard I will."

The creature was within arms length now. Having no ammo left in his alien weapon the commander discarded it and switched to his own eviscerator. He activated his adrenaline booster and rushed toward the creature stabbing it clean through the crown with his bayonet; though it was completely unaffected by the brute force. The Collector general smacked him aside with a wave of its hand. Shepard rolled on the ground when he landed in order to soften the blow. The commander fired shell after shell at the creature in vain; it seemed nothing could affect it.

"You are arrogant Shepard, you will learn." The general raised its arms and a black-violet discharge of electricity surrounded its hands. "The forces of the universe bend to me." It used its biotics to form a massive wave of energy and the sheer force of the shockwave uplifted the ground that lie underneath it. It sent a massive shockwave of black-violet energy that snaked its way across the ground steadily approaching him.

Shepard tried to roll out of the way but the blast was too large to escape. The last thing he heard was Miranda screaming his name before the world went dark…

**~O~**

_Project Base, Medical Bay. Asteroid 157-Golgotha, Bahak system. Approximately five days post-suicide mission. 0320 hours._

Shepard's eyes adjusted slowly to the brightness. He let out a low gasp, and his eyes explored his surroundings. His mind slowly began to catch up with him; he knew he wasn't on Horizon, he must've just dreamt it. Shepard also remembered that he wasn't onboard Normandy; since the room's lighting was far brighter and of a different hue. Suddenly everything came rushing back to him; he was in Dr. Kenson's project base. He remembered her saying that he was going to be put in the medical bay so he could be patched up by the facility's doctors.

Shepard's mind was ablaze with questions about his current predicament. Did the doctors just patch him up? Did Dr. Kenson take him back to Object Rho to finish the indoctrination process? Was he too late? Had the Reapers already arrived?

Andreas still couldn't tell anything based off his surroundings, the bright artificial lighting was still blinding to him. Despite the blinding light Shepard could still hear the footsteps of someone in the room with him, and he could vaguely make out a figure that was pacing in the room.

"Shepard's been heavily sedated for close to two days now. We've had to increase each dosage by about .05 mg hourly." The voice spoke into what he could barely tell was a data pad, and his eyes slowly began to make out the curly chestnut haired doctor. Based off her armor's insignia she was still Alliance, but was she right? Had he really been out two days? "I thought Shepard was waking up a few moments ago…But it could've just been a glitch in the system."

Shepard moved slowly in order to sit up on the gurney and was extremely grateful that the doctors had not strapped him to the bed. He let out several loud grunts as he struggled to keep upright. He tried to move but felt something tugging at his right arm. Shepard turned his attention to his right side and noticed two tubes that fed into his chest and arm. The tubes ran along to two separate bags attached to a pole; one contained an iv drip solution, and the other bag held blood. The blood bag was most likely there to replace the copious amount that he had generously donated to the floor earlier.

His chest, abdomen, and shoulders were dressed in fresh bandages although it was clearly hastily done. Shepard was shirtless, probably so the doctors could attend to his injuries easier.

The doctor turned quickly to face her patient in horror. "Oh my god! It's no glitch; the sedatives aren't working on him!" She ran out of the room screaming for the security team.

Shepard quickly ripped the tubes from his arm and chest. He gave a slight wince in response to the sudden sting that shot through his body. Two Alliance soldiers rushed into the room as he rose to his feet.

One of the Alliance soldiers made a panicked grab for his side arm, but Shepard's reflexes were quicker despite his weakened state. Taking the soldier's right arm in his hands, he lifted the bewildered soldier with his shoulders. He then proceeded to throw him across the room over the gurney, which knocked over several trays of medical equipment.

The second officer wasn't nearly as slow. He immediately brought his vindicator rifle to eye level and attempted to fire a burst at the Commander. Shepard quickly made a grab for the gun and managed to divert the shot in the direction of the first soldier. The assault rifle let out a loud three round burst and a blinding, hot, smoke swirled around them. Andreas pulled the assailant's weapon forward and slammed the butt of the rifle into the trooper's visor, shattering the tinted glass into pieces. The guard recoiled in pain. He tried to free his weapon from the Commander's vice grip, but Shepard used the weapon as an improvised club and beat him to the ground with it. The sudden force of the attack brought the guard to the ground in a heap.

Before Shepard could even move he heard a weapon power up behind him. It was the guard he had thrown over the shoulder. The Alliance soldier had withdrawn his predator pistol and fired it at Shepard.

Shepard ducked to avoid the shot and returned fire. Multiple bursts from the confiscated vindicator proved more than sufficient to neutralize the new threat. A burst had managed to smash into the soldier's helmet; his visor shattered and blood and skull fragments sprayed out from the exit wound. The soldier's corpse slumped over the gurney; a pool of blood slowly began to form around the skull.

The trooper that Shepard had clubbed with the vindicator struggled to get to his feet. Shepard put an end to his opponent's struggles with a swift and strong strike to his exposed face. The kick broke the trooper's nose on impact and fresh blood sprayed across the floor, in addition to the Commander's boots.

The door to the medical bay slammed shut, and its panel flashed red to signal that it had been locked. Shepard turned to face the control room adjacent to him. The chestnut haired doctor looked at him with a smug expression on her face. Shepard was trapped in the room.

_Damn it! There has to be a way out. _Shepard thought angrily as he paced the room to search for something to override the door lock. However, despite his best efforts all he could find; was just a few terminals with notes, a log about Kenson explaining how killing the Reapers was starting to sound like a bad idea, and a couple thousand loose credits. _Why do people just leave this kind of stuff lying around? _He mused annoyed that there wasn't anything to help him escape his current precarious situation.

"There's no way out Shepard, just give up." The doctor stated condescendingly to her captive.

"That's one idea." Shepard muttered angrily and smiled once he finally found what he was searching for. The controls to several LOKI class security mechs were now at his disposal. Shepard finally had a way out of the room.

He put in a few keystrokes into the computer terminal in front of him, much to the doctor's displeasure.

"What're you-" She started to ask him suspiciously, but the loud grinding noises behind her gave her his answer.

Three of the security mechs came online, their arms extended and the machine's shuriken machine pistols focused on her. She made a motioned to retrieve her own pistol from her belt, but Shepard warned her. "I don't want to hurt you, open the door and we can end this peacefully." His smooth voice came over the mech's PA systems. Each one of the mech's pulled back on the pistols and a chorus of beeps alerted her that he wasn't kidding.

Despite his best efforts the doctor chose to ignore his warnings. She quickly made a grab for her pistol. The mech's fired their pistols in unison and killed her instantly, her blood coated the cracked glass behind her, and she was dead.

Shepard maneuvered the mechs near the door's power node. They handled like a piece of crap so it took him several minutes to get them into position. Although, once they were in position it only took a few short bursts from their pistols to destroy the locking mechanism's node.

With its locks destroyed the door finally yielded to him. Unfortunately, his escape did not go unnoticed and a deafening alarm blared through out the facility. Kenson's voice came over the P.A. system.

"Shepard's loose; all security teams get to the medical wing." She stated angrily. Shepard knew he didn't have much time before her forces would come to apprehend him. He needed to get suited up and ready to leave.

Shepard approached a nearby armor locker and began to retrieve the contents inside of it. He let out a loud disappointed sigh when he saw the meager equipment contained in it. Most of it was just standard Alliance issue gear, including the blue armor.

He put on the onyx nano-fiber suit first and zipped it cautiously in order to avoid snaring his bandages in the zipper. He then proceeded to place each of the blue ceramic pieces of armor over the nano-suit. A sharp pain pierced his abdomen and shoulders after he attached the chest plate. His wounds must've been even fresher than he thought. But years of Alliance BT taught him the golden rule of every soldier in service. "No pain, no gain." May have been a cliché, but judging from the searing pain emitting from his side he finally understood why his drill instructor Gunnery Chief Ellison always opened with that line.

He shrugged his thoughts and pain off, before he continued to explore the locker's contents. The weaponry inside was definitely not up to par with his usual hardware, but for the time being it would simply have to suffice. He withdrew the M-3 predator handgun and pulled back on the hammer to cock the gun, before he holstered it to his belt. The next weapon was an M-27 scimitar shotgun which only had one clip in the chamber. Though he was sure he'd find more soon enough. He attached the hand guard to the shotgun's grip so that the weapon's kick would be reduced. Shepard holstered the gun then grabbed the final weapon from the locker, a fully loaded black M-15 vindicator. Shepard adjusted the rifle's scope and stole a quick glance at a nearby count down timer, which was similar to the one he had encountered in the base's cargo bay.

"Looks like I don't have much time. I need to get the project back up and running again and get the hell out of here." Shepard turned around and ran towards the airlock at the back of the room. The small neon sign on the side of the door read "crew mess".

The door opposite to Shepard opened and he immediately came under fire from two Alliance soldiers that tried to jump him. The commander ducked behind a nearby column to block the onslaught of avenger rounds. He waited patiently for a break in the soldier's fire before he made his move from cover. Once they needed to reload Shepard moved out of cover using his adrenaline rush to enhance his already stellar reflexes. The troopers stood flabbergasted at the commander's speed and he put them down with several bursts from his assault rifle. The two guards never stood a chance, and less than half a clip later both were lying dead on the ground. He could hear an Alliance officer try to reach one of the fallen soldiers through their radio.

"Benson, Williams, report!"

"Shepard's past them all available security teams get to the crew mess." Kenson spoke hurriedly to her colleague.

Shepard ran as fast as his current injuries would allow towards the crew mess hall. He opened the door and noticed several of the room's tables were strewn about. A few of the tables were flipped as though the previous tenants had already known he was coming. Shepard took cover on an overturned table that was closest to the door he entered, and he heard a soldier scream orders over the radio.

"Get in there, use those flamethrowers!"

The door across from Shepard opened and three rifle toting marines marched into the room. Two grouped up close on the most elevated part of the mess hall, while the third rifleman rushed towards a table across from the Commander.

Then two flamethrower units entered the room not far behind the riflemen. The pyro units were at least a foot or two taller than the marines, most likely due to the heavier armor they were sporting. Their helmets were also slightly larger than the normal N7 helmets the riflemen sported, and the helmets had large tubes that fed into tanks on their shoulders. Shepard figured they were oxygen tanks to keep the pyros from suffocating when using their flamethrowers. The two pyros also had robust fuel tanks mounted on their backs, which provided them with much needed ammunition to the large firestorm cannons each one of them carried.

Shepard knew it would be stupid to shoot them in their faces, especially considering their reinforced armor. The rifleman that sat across from Shepard tried to make a move to get closer; since one of the pyro units was advancing he must've assumed that the Commander would focus on it. _Bad call._

Andreas fired two bursts from his vindicator and dropped him before he even made it to within a foot of his position. The remaining rifle men provided covering fire for the pyro unit so that it could advance on the Commander.

Shepard was pinned by the heavy rifle fire, any time he tried to move the riflemen would force him to retreat back into cover. Eventually the pyro unit managed to clumsily meander its way to the opposite side of Shepard's cover. Andreas rolled back in order to narrowly escape the firestorm's reach and fired several three round bursts directly into the pyro's chest. The heavily armored trooper stumbled back and let out several low grunts as it struggled to keep itself upright. Shepard was just wasting ammo, even at close range the bullets just bounced off the trooper's heavy armor and fell harmlessly to the floor. At best the Commander's bullets were meant to provide him some room to breathe; he tried to keep as much distance between the pyro and himself as possible.

Shepard continued to fire at the enormous soldier, while he retreated to a less dangerous distance. But the brute continued advance and had raised its arm to avoid direct fire to its helmet. Shepard was almost out of vindicator rounds, he had to change his tactics soon or that pyro would just keep charging him. He adjusted his fire to the pyro's shoulders, hoping to detonate one of the tanks of oxygen attached to the armor plates. One of the bursts did manage to provide him with the advantage he'd sorely been lacking; the tank on the trooper's back had been punctured by the Commander's weapon. The tank of fuel began to spout out flames and smoke as the gas contained within ignited with the heat from the Shepard's bullet.

The soldier dropped its weapon and made a panicked motion to remove the fuel pack. Unfortunately what had been the pyro's advantage now became its biggest liability. Its heavy armor restricted its arm from fully reaching it. Shepard took this opportunity to run towards the soldier and proceeded to ram his shoulder into the large unit's gut. He pushed the bewildered pyro closer, and closer, towards its former allies.

The two guards understood the Commander's plan and tried to stop him. But their bullets were being caught by the pyro's heavy armor. He gave the pyro a huge shove a few feet short of the two guards and made a speedy retreat to avoid the blast, in addition to their bullets. Before the two guards could get clear the pyro ignited in a large blaze of crimson flames that incinerated anything within proximity. The riflemen screamed in agony as the fires consumed them and their charred corpses collapsed to the ground before turning to ash.

Shepard wiped his brow and prepared to leave when something heavy smashed against his temple. His kinetic barriers burst and he rolled a few feet away to avoid being incinerated by a stream of fire. He almost forgot about the other pyro he had to contend with.

Unlike his previous opponent this pyro used its heavy armor to its advantage, and rushed the Commander clumsily. Shepard didn't have enough time to move, so he was forced to engage the clearly taller soldier in hand to hand combat.

Shepard smacked his now empty vindicator against the unit's helmet, but he was unshaken by the blunt trauma. The pyro made a grab for Shepard's throat and proceeded to strangle him. Shepard's hands gripped the trooper's forearm and he struggled to free himself. This soldier had a grip like a steel vice and Andreas let out several dry coughs for air as its hand tightened around his windpipe. Shepard delivered several quick kicks to his assailant's stomach, but the armor was far too thick for the soldier to even remotely feel it. Shepard was gasping desperately for air, each attempt to breathe stabbed at his lungs. His eyes turned pink as his brain struggled to keep him conscious. If he didn't do something soon enough he would black out from oxygen deprivation.

Shepard's hands explored a table that was next to them for something, anything to help free him. Shepard felt a serving tray and quickly grabbed it. He bought the tray to the trooper's helmet and a bright orange goop smeared all over the helmet's visor. The trooper fortunately loosened its grip on Shepard to make several failed attempts at cleaning his visor.

Andreas inhaled air greedily; his window for attack was closing fast. Gaining a second wind from the air he inhaled he withdrew his predator and pulled the troopers head forward. His arm reached over the trooper's shoulder and he fired several shots into the tank on his back.

Just like the first trooper, this pyro also lost sight of everything once he realized his tank was about to explode. He released Shepard fully from his grip in panic and tried to desperately remove his tank. Shepard took in one large gulp of air then gave the trooper one powerful kick to the gut, sending him flying back several feet from him. Shepard hopped over the table beside them and ducked to avoid the trooper's explosion.

Blood and armor pieces coated the table and ground beside him. He gave a look over the table and saw what remained of his assailant. The trooper's helmet had a large crack that ran diagonally across the visor. Several large bits of cloth, armor, flesh, and bone lay strewn about the blast zone. There was a large crack in the floor where the explosion had taken place; a heavy cloud of smoke surrounded him that reeked of burnt flesh. Shepard let out a relieved sigh and retrieved his weapons from the floor, then made his way out of the mess hall.

**~O~**

_Project Base, project control room. Asteroid 157-Golgotha, Bahak system. Approximately five days post suicide mission. 0400 hours._

Shepard approached the control room's entrance and peeked around the corner. He had spent the past hour fighting nearly every Alliance soldier in the facility. Most of them were civilians; Harbinger must've been forcing Kenson to throw anyone with two hands at the Commander to delay him. Shepard had found video logs and security footage of Kenson's slow decent into indoctrination. There was no doubt in his mind that the artifact had had the same results as the miners on Aequitas, only this was on a much larger scale.

He decided to bring the video entries with him as evidence. If things went badly he'd need something to back up his story with.

Shepard peered around the corner of the door and saw that the room was currently occupied. Two commandos, a handful of riflemen, a trench gunner, and a pyro unit were already positioned and waiting for him.

The pyro units had already proven to be a nuisance earlier, so he decided to make it top priority. He waited patiently for the perfect shot; he was only going to have a few precious seconds to detonate the pyro's pack so he had to make each shot count. After a few minutes the pyro turned his back on the Commander to ask his CO something, it was now or never. Shepard activated his adrenaline shot and rounded the corner at inhuman speeds. He readied his heavy pistol and fired at the pyro's fuel tank quicker than it could react. Shepard threw himself into cover to avoid the return fire, but his job was done. The pyro shifted awkwardly in place. His tank engulfed him in flames and smoke, before a loud explosion put the poor bastard out of his misery.

The commandos took their positions near the back of the room in order to provide the riflemen and trench gunner enough covering fire so they could advance safely. The riflemen spread out in a 3 meter attack formation, while the trench gunner moved nimbly towards a piece of cover a few feet away from the Commander.

Shepard was pinned by the heavy fire from the group; anytime he attempted to poke his head out from behind the computer terminal he was using as cover, the shotgunner would take his shot. Shepard waited for the shotgunner to reload his weapon. Once he heard him do so Andreas leaned out of cover and quickly finished off one of the riflemen with a few well placed shots from his vindicator. The remaining four riflemen wailed on the Commander's cover while the trench gunner took the opportunity to flank him. Shepard was too distracted with the riflemen to notice the shotgunner close the distance between them, and by the time he did it was already too late.

Shepard took a slug from the close quarter's weapon directly to his chest. Even with his shields and armor taking most of the punishment from the shot it still hurt like hell. His shields had burst. The Commander rolled away from the assailant to avoid a second shot and fired several retaliatory shots at the shotgun wielding trooper. Unfortunately, the soldier's upper torso was heavily armored and any shots that actually slammed into him barely registered. The shotgunner fired a third shot at the Commander. This one grazed his right leg, which slashed the nano fiber and flesh beneath Shepard's armor.

The Commander let out a cry of pain and managed to summon enough strength to roll forward in order to avoid a third shot. His armor's on board computer administered morphine, not that it helped stopped the blood from gushing out of the large cut. Andreas managed to roll far enough into a nearby computer console in order to avoid the stream of assault rifle fire.

Shepard unholstered his scimitar shotgun and stole a glance at the shot gunner. He was closing in quick and to make matters worse the riflemen had him surrounded. He peered around his cover and noticed something he should have right from the beginning. To afford such a high degree of mobility the shot gunner had to remove the armor from his legs. While the upper body may have been fully covered, his legs were extremely vulnerable.

_Payback's a bitch. _Shepard mused as he fired a round from his shotgun directly into the kneecap of his opponent. The sounds of loud, wet, snaps of bones cracking let him know he hit his mark.

The trooper immediately fell to the ground screaming in pain. The soldier clutched his now broken leg and squirmed aimlessly to escape the Commander. But Shepard finished him off with a shot gun shell to the top of his skull.

One of the riflemen had closed in on Andreas' position and had hoped to finish him off. But the Commander had gained a second wind, and he proceeded to grab the guard over his cover. He threw the flustered soldier to the ground; the guard struggled in vain to move. But before he could move Shepard had unsheathed his omni-blade and brought the holographic clementine blade down with enough force to carve through the trooper's helmet.

The other guard went over to investigate but hadn't expected Shepard to hop over cover. The Commander kicked him as hard as he could and sent the soldier stumbling back; then shotgunned the trooper through the temple, killing him instantly.

The two commandos finally moved in to attack. The male officer activated his tech armor and rushed towards the commander. While his subordinate stayed behind to keep the Commander suppressed with her carnifex hand cannon. The first engineer fired an incineration blast from his omni-tool and a bright auburn stream of energy snaked through the air towards Shepard. Andreas barely escaped being hit by the blast by rolling quickly from his cover.

The raw blast of energy impacted a few feet to his left and began to immediately liquefy the metal tiling on the floor. _Glad that didn't hit me. _Shepard reflected with a relief and he fired several rounds at his opponent's Osage holographic armor.

The commando ducked behind Shepard's previous position in order to avoid the shots. The engineer then fired several shield-piercing rounds from his own assault rifle at the Commander and Andreas buckled down in his cover.

Shepard stole a look at the clock and the time read approximately two hours till the Reapers' arrival. He didn't have any time to spare and had to end this fight quick. But the two commandos had him pinned, at least until the female commando tried to advance without activating her tech armor. Shepard used her stupidity to his advantage; he fired several bursts into her head, and killed her instantly.

The tactic may have killed one but it left Shepard open to a vicious counter-attack. The male engineer rolled in next to the Commander and overloaded his tech armor. The self detonation sent a massive shockwave of energy around them. The blast overloaded Shepard's shields and he stumbled back from the force of the blast. The sentinel took aim at the Commander's head but missed when Shepard dodged to the right. The commander withdrew his sidearm and fired a full clip into the unshielded techie.

The elite officer's eyes rolled into his skull and he collapsed in the floor, in a pool of blood. With the last of the hostile contacts neutralized Shepard holstered his weapon and could now finally get this rock moving. He made his way over to a console closest to a large observation window and he input several keys to bring the systems online. The project's V.I. came online and addressed the new user courteously.

"Online. How may I assist you?" It asked in a calm and synthesized fashion.

"I want to activate the project." Shepard stated to the V.I.

"Warning activation of project will result in an estimated 305,000 casualties. Do you wish to continue?" The V.I brought up a sidebar on one of the terminal screens near Shepard and he watched in horror at the amount of people that he was about to kill.

He closed his eyes in frustration, if there was just some other way. If he only had the time to find another path, Shepard didn't want to sacrifice so many innocent people to achieve his goal. But he knew there was no alternative. The Commander brought his hand to the keyboard and activated began the activation protocols for the project.

Shepard could see the asteroid's massive engines outside begin to ignite and the whole base shook in response. The project was now under way. Shepard activated his omni-tool and administered some medi-gel to alleviate the pain in his leg from the shotgun blast a few minutes ago.

"Project activation in progress. Warning: collision with mass relay immanent. Begin evacuation procedures." The V.I.'s alarms blared throughout the room. Shepard didn't have much time; he had to warn the colonists living on Arahtot. It didn't matter if they were Batarians; to him they were still people that needed his help and if there were someway to warn them he had to try.

"All colonists living in the Bahak system you have to evacuate NOW! This is-" Shepard's fleeting warning was cut off by a furious Dr. Kenson.

"Shepard no! Do you have any idea what you've just done! You leave me no choice; if this asteroid cannot be stopped then it must be destroyed." Shepard ignored her and spoke to the V.I.

"Tell me where to find Dr. Kenson."

" is nearing the project's element zero core." Shepard glared at Kenson while she continued her insane ranting.

"An eezo core meltdown should suffice. Because of you everyone on this station will be obliterated."

Shepard's eyes narrowed on the grey haired woman. "Not if I stop you first." He growled at her. The Commander took a few steps away from the console when he heard the door next to him open.

Two guards entered the room and were immediately cut down by Shepard's shotgun. The Commander holstered his weapon and proceeded into the room's elevator, his new mission was to stop Kenson.

**~O~**

When Shepard arrived at the engineering deck he saw Kenson fiddling with a console behind the window in front of him. She turned to face Shepard when she heard him enter the room and pointed a finger at him accusingly. "Don't try to stop me Shepard. I have to do this." She cried out in anger.

Shepard stepped closer to the glass and spoke candidly to her. "Kenson it's over, just come with me and I'll get you off this rock alive."

She shook her head no and strolled over to her console near the large element zero core. "There is no escape for me; there is no redemption for what you've done."

There was a long pause as the doctor fought back her tears. "I will die never seeing my master's blessings, but at least I'll make sure you won't either!" She screamed angrily at him before returning to her console to deactivate the core's cooling rods. Shepard pulled out his predator to take a quick shot at the Kenson, but by the time he pulled it out she was gone.

"Damn it Kenson!" Shepard thought she would at least listen to reason; unfortunately she was too far gone to help. The door opposite to him opened and two shotgun wielding marines entered the room to stall him.

Shepard took cover on one of the room's pillars in order to avoid their weapon's shells. After a few minutes of heavy fighting Shepard dropped both the soldiers with a few well placed shots from his rifle.

Shepard moved throughout each of the rooms, running against the clock to reach the project's cooling rods. In just the span of ten minutes the Commander must've killed at least over a dozen soldiers in his attempts to move throughout the facility. Kenson really didn't want him to get to the cooling rods.

Eventually, Shepard managed to make it to the first cooling rod station. Several dead Alliance marines lay sprawled out along the floor after their fight with him. Andreas made his way over to the console and spoke to address the V.I.

"V.I. how do I stabilize the reactor core?" The computerized voice came online and began to walk him through the procedures.

"To stabilize the reactor core: manually re-insert cooling rod into control piston A, manually re-insert cooling rod B into control piston B. Doing so will stabilize the reactor core." Shepard followed the V.I.'s instructions and clasped his left hand around the rod's cylindrical frame. His right hand grasped the top handle and he gently began to ease the rod into place. The V.I. alerted him on his progress.

"Cooling rod A re-inserted, cool down cycle had begun."

Kenson screamed over the intercom to alert her forces. "No, I need more time, stop him!" On cue an engineer, a pyro unit, and a shotgunner arrived to deal with the Commander.

Shepard managed to avoid being barbequed once again and fired his vindicator at the trooper's fuel tank. The pyro dropped his weapon in a panic, clumsily bobbing left and right in a failed attempt to put the fire out.

The engineer made a combat roll to avoid being incinerated; the shotgunner however, was not nearly as quick. When the pyro's pack ignited the trenchgunner was caught in the explosion which killed them both.

The engineer tried to fire at Shepard, but the Commander rolled forward to avoid the attack. He activated his omni-tool and pulled his arm back. Andreas brought his holographic switch blade forward and slammed it into his opponent's chest plate. The attack pierced her sternum and came out the other side. Her pupils rolled up in the back of her skull, her arms went limp, and the engineer let out several small death throws before coming to a standstill. Shepard threw her to the ground before making his way over to the final cooling rod station.

The final station was guarded by four flamethrowers and another engineer commando. Each one of the heavily armored troopers seemed to grow more challenging with each encounter. His armor even had several new bullet holes and burn marks from the heavy fighting.

Shepard hugged the low crate while he mulled over his next step, only the leader kept him from his objective. The commando made his way over to Shepard and shot at him with his shotgun. The Commander rolled back to avoid the shot and fired a slug directly the engineer's stomach. The shot punctured the soldier's abdomen and fresh blood coated the wall behind him. With his attacker's tech armor now effectively neutralized Shepard planted another shell to his legs. His opponent screamed in agony as he fell to the ground and his gun slid across the floor out of his reach. One more shell to the back of the head finished him off.

Andreas gingerly nudged the headless corpse aside, then approached to the control terminal for the cooling rod. Shepard lightly grasped the handle on the top of the cylinder with his left hand, while his right hand insured that the rod was inserted as steadily and horizontally as possible. The V.I. came online and gave him the good news.

"Cooling rod B inserted. Core meltdown averted, reactor levels stabilizing." Shepard let out a gratified sigh and used his left hand to wipe his brow clean of the sweat that had gathered there. But his short intermission was broken by Dr. Kenson's deranged rambling.

"You've done nothing Shepard! I can still override power to the engines. Try and stop me!"

The Commander entered the elevator that connected to the core control room and took it to the second floor. Before he entered the room, Shepard withdrew his pistol, and pulled back on the hammer to cock the sidearm.

When he entered the room Shepard saw Kenson obliviously typing away at her terminal, completely unaware of his presence. The large element zero core before him shined brightly with a violet and azure veil of energy. A large display screen hung just above Kenson displaying the approximate distance from the Bahak system's mass relay.

Shepard approached Kenson, gun poised to take a shot if necessary. He spoke coldly to Kenson and fired a warning shot at her console's screen in order to gain her attention.

"Step away from the console Kenson."

"You ruined everything! I can't hear their whispers anymore." Kenson spoke through flooded eyes and she slammed her hands against the console out of frustration.

"I said step away from the console, I won't ask twice." Shepard warned her once again, only this time his predator lined up to sight down on her.

"You ruined everything; because of you I will never see the Reapers' arrival." Kenson spoke remorsefully, and the doctor pulled out a thermal detonator from her pocket. Shepard's eyes grew wide with shock; she was planning on killing both of them! "All you had to do was stay asleep you bastard, if you had stayed asleep none of this had to happen!"

Shepard lowered his gun to her, and made one last effort to reason with her. "Kenson, enough! It doesn't have to end like this don't you understand? Just stop this insanity and I can save you!"

Kenson smiled evilly at him. Her eyes and voice began to change almost instantly. Her normal brown eyes now illuminated with the same sickly yellow he saw before, her skin began to flake and crack, and a bright golden light poured from every crevice.

"You cannot stop the inevitable Shepard." Harbinger's voice echoed alongside Kenson's and the doctor's thumb pressed down on the detonator's red button.

A bright light surrounded her; Shepard could see her disintegrate into ash as the flames engulfed her. Fire and smoke swirled around her; a massive wave of concussive energy shot forth. The blast was so powerful that Shepard was flung back more than a dozen feet away from her. His head slammed against the cold steel wall, and a large dent formed in the wall where his body impacted. Shepard landed on the ground stomach first and all the wind he had left in his lungs was knocked out of him. Andreas' head felt heavy, he could barely keep his eyes open. His vision blurred; the Commander gave one last fleeting glance at the large holographic display above the engine core, before he lost consciousness.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch 10 A Change of Plans

_Armory, Normandy SR2. Approximately five days post suicide mission. 0400 hours._

Jacob Taylor entered the armory and gave a quick look around his workstation. The room was extremely dark which wasn't surprising given the hour of the day. He stopped at the door way and adjusted his head to address EDI.

"EDI hit the lights, 50% please." He was still a bit groggy and just wanted to ease himself into the busy day that lay ahead of him.

The lights slowly began to fill the room and his eyes slightly squinted in response to the sudden change. Jacob approached his terminal and powered it up to begin checking his inventory.

Even though the mission hadn't even begun yet, nor would it for another hour. Jacob woke at 3:30 that morning and felt as though he'd slept enough. Back when he was in the Alliance, he never did like to sleep later than what was needed, especially when something important was on the horizon.

The time was steadily approaching 5 a.m.; if Shepard's team was going to head for Arahtot to find him, then there couldn't be any room for screw ups.

Taylor approached the weapons vault and ran his gloved fingers along the locker's red panel to bring it online. The doors to the massive wardrobe opened and he reached inside for the team's weapons. Jacob began to lay out their weapons accordingly, although, he felt it best to attend to his own weapons first. Jacob withdrew his eviscerator shotgun, and a phalanx hand cannon; then he proceeded to take both weapons to one of the armory's weapon benches in order to inspect them thoroughly.

The first weapon that Jacob decided to work on was his eviscerator. He casually strolled over to the weapons locker and started to cherry pick his desired weapon mods. Once he had his desired equipment selected, Jacob made his way over to his work station to begin attaching his extended barrel mod and spare clip holster to his shotgun. Taylor grabbed a nearby work stool and placed it next to the weapon bench. His hand reached for the bench's light source and he adjusted it so he could better see what he was doing. However, before he could get to work EDI informed him of an incoming page from his XO. _Guess she can't sleep either,_ he mused brightly.

"Jacob, EDI's informed me that you're awake, why?" The small weapons room filled with her Australian voice.

"Funny I was about to ask you the same thing Miranda." Jacob teased while he took a seat on the stool so he could examine his weapon closer.

"I never did care much for sleep."

"Amen to that. Especially considering what we've got coming up huh?" Jacob's tone turned from his previous playful demeanor into a more serious inflection.

"I know, are you ready?" Miranda asked him softly. Jacob adjusted his posture to pop his back.

"Yeah, I'll tell EDI to inform the team to meet in the comm room. Until then I'll just make sure everyone's toys are locked n' loaded for the trip. Got any requests Miranda, you know aside from the usual one for a better weapon?" Jacob spoke through a light chuckle.

Miranda let out a sigh at her partner's idiotic comment, "The M-4 shuriken machine pistol is ultra-light weight, accurate, has a substantial rate of fire and-" Miranda tried to defend her choice in weaponry but was cut off by her subordinate's retort.

"-And it also does about as much damage as one of those antique H&K ump .45 cals from the twentieth century. It's a good thing you're one hell of biotic Miranda. I'd hate to imagine that you'd have to rely on submachine guns to get the job done."

"Finished?"

"I had a few more, but for now, yeah."

"Jacob I'm know he's fine. Shepard's a soldier, probably one of the best. If anyone could survive alone on Arahtot for 45 hours it would definitely be him."

"I hope so," was all that Miranda got as a response. Even she had here doubts about finding the Commander. In all her past years of service with Cerberus no MIA officer has ever spent such an extended time without contact. Back when she was with the organization an operative that went silent this long usually meant one of two things; either the operative defected, or was an unconfirmed KIA. She hoped it was the former and not the latter. Not that the former held any truer in this case.

"I can be in the comm room in five minutes, unless you'd like some time to freshen up or perhaps take a meal before things get underway."

"Nah, I'm ready to go ASAP. The sooner we bring Shepard back the better I'll feel." Jacob said sternly, but with an appreciative undertone.

"Right, then I'm on my way up now." There was a small audible click on Jacob's end to let him know that the call had ended. Jacob finished attaching his desired mods to his shotgun and he set it aside in order to examine his sidearm.

**~O~**

_Combat Information Center, Normandy SR2. Approximately five days post-suicide mission. 0410 hours._

The elevator to the CIC opened slowly and Kelly let her bloodshot eyes adjust to the Normandy's ambient lighting. She rubbed her eyes lightly between her index finger and thumb before wearily making her way to her posting. The galaxy map before Kelly spun slowly in a perfect clock-wise circle, each one of its planets and sections blinking excitedly in succession as she approached her terminal.

"Good morning Ms. Chambers, how are you feeling today?" EDI asked the young red head in her normal cool manner. Kelly input a few keys into her console's keyboard and yawned loudly while her terminal came online.

"Not great EDI, but thank you for asking." Kelly replied softly to the A.I.'s gesture of concern. She ran her hands gently down her face while her console was loading. Her hair was still a tangled mess, even though she had brushed it not too long ago. Her uniform still had wrinkles and creases in it from yet more failed attempts at sleep. Her normal exuberant eyes were now a light pink with fatigue and exhaustion.

She tried to get four hours of sleep as EDI suggested, but she just couldn't do it. Every time she would lie down in her bed on the crew deck, her mind couldn't help but wander to Andy. The night that they spent together was constantly at the forefront of her mind. After they finished making love, she burrowed her head deep in between his arms. She kept thinking of how comfortable it was when she rested her head on his breast. The rhythmic metronome of his heart beat was like a sweet lullaby to her ears, the way his warm and soothing breath felt on her scalp while he tenderly kissed her. She remembered the feeling of his firm hand on her while he gently massaged the small of her back, that cute smile that he gave her while she toyed with his black, curly chest hair.

_Why didn't I tell him,_ She thought angrily after a few minutes of silent loathing. _Why didn't I tell Andy how much I loved him before he… _

She could feel a few warm tears slowly run down her cheek and she quickly wiped them away. Even if she was falling apart inside she couldn't show it. Kelly needed to keep her sadness under control, if not for the crew then at least for Shepard.

Still she couldn't help but wish that she was down there on Arahtot instead of him, but then she realized that he'd only have to go down there and save her, just like always. _Damn it, _she reflected happily. _That's my Andy all right; he always has to be the hero. He's the man of my dreams, of every woman's dreams. I never thought someone like him would ever go for a girl like me, but then a lot has happened that I never thought was possible._

When Kelly first met Andreas all those months ago she was instantly floored by him. It wasn't the first time she had seen him of course; during her first line of work she saw him during his medal ceremony back on Elysium. Then she was lucky enough to see him again a few years after joining Cerberus, it was a day she could never forget. She was in the Council chambers, working as a recruitment agent at the time. She was there to recruit a few new private contributors to Cerberus when she saw him. The Council was inducting him into the Spectres at the time, and she watched in awe from the upper balcony of the courtyard as he humbly accepted his reward. He was so handsome in his uniform; Kelly remembered how her heart instantly skipped a beat when she saw him. Back then she thought a hero like him, that white knight in shining armor, could never go for some Plain Jane girl like her. That was until the two actually had a chance to talk all those months ago for the first time. It was unbelievable; he was just as handsome as he had been all those years ago in the vids from Elysium. Kelly thought it best to keep her feelings to herself at the time, no reason to end her little crush abruptly. Every now and then she sprinkled in the occasional flirtatious line, the occasional longing stare, even some not so subtle invitations every chance she got. To her they were just harmless fun, her small way of feeding her desire to be with him. Then, that all changed when he finally confessed his feelings for her that morning in his cabin. Suddenly it seemed her crush wasn't just a one way street, as unbelievable as it sounded he felt the same way about her. Sadly, this just made his sudden disappearance all the more painful. The thought of never seeing him again stabbed at her heart and nearly crippled her in mental anguish.

She was roused from her negative thoughts when her console's screen came alive with a bright orange light, and a small beep emitted to alert her that it was ready for use. Thankfully, EDI believed that she had fulfilled her request; as such the A.I. had unlocked her console so that Kelly could work.

Kelly heard the door behind her open with a loud hiss that instantly shook her from her sulking state. Miranda emerged from the elevator looking as well composed as ever, if only Kelly had that kind of ability. Kelly must've looked like a madwoman because Miranda's brow arched quizzically as she strolled past her.

Kelly had to admit that she was impressed with Miranda and Jacob's leadership skills. To be honest, this was her first ever mission with the raven haired biotic; until the Illusive Man hand picked her to serve on the Lazarus Cell, her only interaction with Miranda had been through the occasional psyche report Kelly sent to her. Although she had always heard from other officers within Cerberus that Miranda was a great leader, a bit cold at times sure, but a great leader none the less. While Jacob Taylor on the other hand was Alliance right from the start, in fact Kelly was asked personally by the Illusive Man to analyze him psychologically. Not that that was an unusual request to ask, given the fact that Mr. Taylor had been ground side on Eden Prime when the Geth hit it, and the Illusive Man was more than concerned about the man's possible mental instability. Surprisingly Taylor was incredibly well adjusted to what he had seen down on the colony, even more shocking was that he had really taken charge since Shepard had disappeared.

For the past twenty hours Jacob's office and Miranda's office had been abuzz with the various members of Andy's team, except of course for Jack, although that was not surprising. Every one of them asked the same exact question "_What are we going to do about Shepard_?"

There was that inner fire at work again; only Andy could bring together so many different individuals, and earn their trust so completely that their loyalty to him was unbreakable.

Miranda stood at the armory's door and adjusted her shoulders with a small audible pop, before turning her attention to EDI. "EDI have you sent notice to Shepard's team to assemble in the comm room?"

The AI came online and acknowledged her question calmly. "Yes Operator Lawson, I believe Thane Krios was the first to arrive. He is in the armory with Mr. Taylor now. I am also showing several other members on their way."

"Thank you EDI." Miranda had her finger on the door's locking mechanism but did not activate it. Instead she turned on her heel and made her way to Kelly to talk to her. _Yeoman Chambers has been torturing herself long enough for my tastes. _Miranda mused sarcastically. _But hopefully by throwing the mawkish woman a bone she'll abandon this childish temperament and we can move this whole thing along._

"Chambers, do you still wish to offer your assistance?" Miranda stopped short of the galaxy map and crossed her arms behind her back professionally.

Kelly immediately perked up when Miranda offered her the opportunity to finally do something to help. "Yes, oh Miranda thank you! Whatever you need just name it and I'll do it!" Kelly asked excitedly.

_Uh, this was definitely was a mistake. _ Miranda brooded, irked at the yeoman's overly enthusiastic nature. If there was one thing that Miranda found more unbearable than Jack's abrasive nature, it was Chambers' overly chipper attitude. _My god, how can Shepard tolerate more than a few minutes with this immoderately vivacious woman?_

Miranda raised her hand to simmer the red haired yeoman down. "While Jacob and I are in the meeting with the others I'd like you to pull up the dossiers on the team members. I'm going to divide the team in two; one of the teams under my command, while the other team will be lead by Garrus."

"Garrus," Kelly asked. She was surprised that Miranda would actually trust a non-human crew member.

"Yes. After watching him in the Collector base, I know he'll be up to the task. Besides that, he is definitely far more approachable for the crew; I need them to work together affably if we are to have any hopes for success. Also, you've had time to analyze each member of the crew individually. Do you have any recommendations for the teams?"

"That would depend on the circumstances ma'am, for infiltration I know Kasumi or Legion would be excellent candidates. For close quarters combat scenarios I would recommend Grunt or maybe Samara. While for long distance ground control I-"

Miranda interrupted Kelly abruptly by raising her hand as a gesture for the yeoman to settle. "Thank you Kelly, but I have a meeting to attend at present. However, I would ask that you send your recommended teams directly to my quarters. If everything proves to be satisfactory, then I will take your advice."

Kelly snapped to attention very professionally and snapped a sharp salute to the XO. "Yes Ma'am." The yeoman flashed an enormous grateful smile and Miranda nodded in approval.

"Then get started Chambers, dismissed." The raven haired woman turned on her heel and continued her approach to the armory.

Kelly still continued to smile and turned to her console quickly to begin her new assignment happily. Miranda may have given her an assignment out of being pressed for time; but it was still a real chance at helping them, a real chance to help Andy. She wasn't about to squander Miranda's faith in her. Kelly brought up the teammates' dossiers and began her work.

Miranda entered the armory and saw Jacob conversing with Thane; of all people, about the new mods he had just installed onto the Drell's sniper rifle. _He certainly got over his mistrust of the famed assassin… about bloody time. I never did understand his mislaid certitude towards the man. _Miranda thought as she strolled past the men and proceeded towards the comm room.

Miranda entered the room and took her spot near the upper right side of the table. She let out a low, quiet, sigh and snapped her eyes to the door when she heard it open. She had expected to see Jacob or Mordin enter after her. Instead it was Garrus and Tali that had actually managed arrived first. Although given the duo's history with Shepard that was hardly a surprise, after all those two had been the most vocal about the need to rescue him. So it was only natural that they would be here as soon as possible to begin planning the rescue.

Garrus and Tali flashed Miranda a look to at least acknowledge her presence. They must've figured that she was on their side, and that treating the ex-Cerberus officer with mistrust would not bring their friend back any sooner.

Mordin arrived next, a few seconds behind Garrus and Tali; he apologized formally for the delay. Apparently the doctor had been wrapped up in reading some old twentieth century literature about wizards. Jacob and Thane entered the room together; the two were still conversing about the enhanced scope and barrel mods that Jacob just installed onto Thane's rifle. Once the two finished their exchange, Taylor made his way to the head of the table and gave Miranda a look that conveyed_ sorry I took so long._

Samara arrived alone and she nodded courteously at the room's occupants, before taking her place by her Drell compatriot. Legion entered the room alongside Kasumi; Kasumi was apparently discussing Geth infiltration technology with Legion in order to determine whose was superior. Zaeed and Grunt arrived a few minutes later, and the large beast had a huge grin on his face.

"Finally, time to go kick some asses!" The young Krogan boomed proudly as he slammed his knuckles together in excitement.

Miranda shook her head in discontent at the Krogan's immature comment. Jacob hardly helped the situation when he laughed at the young soldier's suggestion. "Damn right it is!" Miranda shot him a cold glare as a signal to not encourage the Krogan's abrasive nature.

Once again Jack was the last one to arrive; she waited for the door to close, before she reclined in order to rest her back against it. She shot a cold stare at Miranda

"Would it be so tiresome for you to be punctual for once, Jack?" Miranda countered her heated gaze her own ice cold voice. Jack rolled her eyes and said nothing. She then averted her gaze out of disgust.

Miranda was grateful that Jack was at least willing to be cooperative. Jack was without a doubt the most unbearable, idiotic, and vulgar individual that she had ever had displeasure to work with. Although, Miranda was more than impressed that Jack actually cared enough about someone other than herself. In fact, aside from her malevolent stare Jack had shown no other hostilities to anyone, even Miranda. _Perhaps Shepard really did change her._

Jacob placed his hands on the mahogany conference table and began to address the team.

"All right people, we are now at forty-six hours silent running. Which means it looks as though we will need to make a plan to infiltrate the complex on Arahtot. So, any body got any ideas?" Miranda cleared her throat and suggested her plan to Jacob.

"Actually I've already begun to coordinate my plan with Yeoman Chambers, we're going to divide the group into two teams. Alpha team will be comprised of those of you under my command, while Omega team will be composed of those of you under Garrus Vakarian's leadership."

Unsurprisingly the room's occupants nodded their heads in agreement. Garrus had already proven to them that he was a very competent leader; he may have even been on the same level as Shepard when it came to taking charge. Despite the positive response Garrus still had a look of surprise on him, he probably never expected anyone but Shepard to place faith in his abilities. Jack, as usual, cut the conversation with her sharp derogatory manner.

"So we're taking our lead from either the Cerberus Cheerleader, or Shepard's lackey? Huh difficult choice, but hey what the fuck, the Bird is a good leader. A bit of a goodie-goodie, still I guess he's a hell of a lot better than following the Cerberus floozy." Garrus ignored her and turned his attention to Miranda.

"Lawson are you sure you don't want Taylor running the second team?"

Miranda shook her head no and pointed her slender gloved finger at the Turian. "No Vakarian I need him to help me coordinate my team inside the facility. That's why I need you in charge of the second fire team. You've already proven you can handle command before, I understand if you're worried but-"

Garrus smiled and interrupted her. "Nah, just making sure you were behind this idea. If we're getting Shepard back I'm sure as hell not sitting this one out. So how are we dividing up the group, where are we splitting up?"

Miranda crossed her arms behind her back and began to speak. "Using the shuttle's last known coordinates, we will make our way to the facility before stopping short of the perimeter. Once we touch down on Arahtot's surface we'll divide the team into two squads. Garrus your squad will be on the outskirts of the facility; you'll provide my team with covering fire and a distraction should the need for that arise. My team will find a way to infiltrate the facility, once we have our way in then we will provide your team with a means to enter the base."

"Hmmm, any maps or data on facility infrastructure present?" Mordin inquired.

Miranda closed her eyes in frustration. "Unfortunately no, I was lucky to extract as much data as I could from the shuttle's memory board. I fear that once we touch down on Arahtot we will be flying blind. The Batarians keep this place well off the grid, and I doubt that any public records we could recover would be accurate."

"Great plan Cheerleader, you wanna just put a bullet in each of our heads and save the squints the trouble of having to do it?" Jack mocked the Aussie coldly.

"Certainly, so long as you're volunteering to go first Jack." Miranda gave her a sharp gaze and Jack flipped her off.

Jacob kept things from progressing by interrupting them. "Easy Miranda, this is an open debate. Jack I get that you have your differences with Miranda, but please keep this civil."

"Whatever Taylor, she must tug on your leash pretty hard you pussy." Jack rolled her eyes and dropped her issue with Miranda's plan. Jacob gave her a glare and Tali chimed in.

"Maybe we could download our own map. I bet the Batarian's tech is manufactured about the same way as my own people's tech, maybe even a little more primitive than our own. If I could get close enough to the facility, say about fifty feet, then my omni tool could just hack into their systems and I could download any maps available."

Legion stepped forward to offer its thoughts as well. "Creator-Tali Zorah's plan is sound; we can also provide our own scanning equipment to mask her signal to prevent our position from being detected."

Tali crossed her arms. "Thank you for volunteering Legion, but are you sure you can do that?" The Geth's brow plate rose as though it were mimicking a human eye brow.

"Yes Geth use communications scramblers in our code. By establishing a link between the Creator, our network, and the base we can allow the signal an opportunity to infiltrate their systems undetected. We will fill their security system with an artificially created code to prevent the Batarian's firewalls from detecting the change in their signals."

Garrus chimed in now to talk to Miranda. "What happens if Tali or Legion give our position away?"

"Then we pull out our quads and kill any stupid bastard that gets between us and Shepard." Grunt confidently slammed his fist into his palm as a gesture of bravado.

"No. If we go in guns blazing they may execute Shepard. This is a delicate operation and must be treated as such." Miranda chided the young Krogan, who waved his hand dismissively in a huff.

"Don't worry Garrus, Legion and I know what we're doing. The only way the Batarians could trace the signal back to us is if we fired a flare into the air." Tali reassured her friend and he nodded in understanding.

"To answer your question Garrus, assuming that Tali and Legion are successful, we can use their data to find a way into the facility. Afterwards we will provide Omega team with a way inside before regrouping."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Tali sarcastically stated.

"It's just fact, in truth I have very little faith that infiltration of the facility will go over smoothly. In all probability if they captured Shepard, then the base has more than likely boosted its security to prevent further infiltration attempts." Miranda retorted in a matter of factly fashion.

There was a silence in the room, even Jack didn't say anything. After that news many of the crew were definitely less than hopeful at their efforts. Finally the tension was cut by Kasumi, albeit involuntarily.

"Wow, not be a pessimist, but this meeting is turning into a huge downer."

"It doesn't matter right now how hopeless it may seem. Miranda has a plan, and since I don't hear any better ideas then I'm inclined to follow her." Jacob sternly added. "All right people, report to Yeoman Chambers for your group assignments. I expect you to follow Miranda's and Garrus' orders to a T, no exceptions. Afterwards head over to the armory, I've been prepping weaponry since four this morning so you should be locked n loaded for the trip. I want you all to remain as civil as possible, remember who we're fighting for." Grunt let out a loud huff at the mention of that last part, and the beast brought his knuckles together in excitement. "Report to the shuttle in an hour, we leave at 0500 hours. Crew dismissed."

The crew filed out almost immediately, everyone was excited to finally be doing something about Shepard. Jacob excused himself and proceeded to the armory to prepare for the team. Garrus was about to leave the room but Miranda called out to him. "Garrus, could I have a moment?" Tali gave him a quick glance, Garrus' body language communicated with the quarian to alleviate her concerns. Tali acknowledged his subtle request and made her way to the CIC for her placement.

Garrus approached Miranda and let his right hand rest on the table. "What do you need Miranda?" The raven haired biotic placed her hands to her hip and addressed her co-leader frankly.

"I just wanted to make sure that we're clear on where we stand Garrus. If we are going to have any hope of bringing Shepard back alive, I need you to follow my orders completely. I will not tolerate any disregards to any of my orders, no matter how miniscule, understood?" Miranda glared into the Turian's blue eyes. She knew he didn't trust her, not that she cared all that much even if he did. Aside from Taylor and Shepard, not many of the crew seemed to trust her. Although what she did care about was that if he didn't at least try to trust her judgments, then this mission would only grow excruciatingly more troublesome.

"Look Miranda, we may not see eye to eye on a lot of things but I do trust that you have Shepard's best interest in heart. He told me how you quit Cerberus; you disregarded orders in order to avoid harming him. That isn't something an enemy would do. Besides I know you care just as much about his safety as we all do; if following your orders gets my friend back any quicker, then I'm all for it. Was that all you needed?"

"Yes, thank you Garrus. That will be all." She was impressed at the devotion Shepard instilled in those around him. Though that was hardly a surprise, the man was quite an inspiration. Unbearably altruistic at certain moments, but he was a good man and a friend none the less. The Turian turned on his heel and exited the armory hurriedly to take gather his equipment from the armory.

**~O~**

Kelly had spent the last hour and a half analyzing the teams she had placed together. She had had the opportunity to get to know each of them well enough to understand their strengths and weaknesses well enough.

Kelly divided Legion, Mordin, Kasumi, Jacob and Samara to supplement Miranda's Alpha team. Legion was a software expert and would definitely be able to crack through any systems the team was likely to encounter. Its targeting algorithms were also some of the most sophisticated among the Normandy's marksmen, making the Geth a dangerous combatant. Mordin would be able to provide supplementary support to Legion as well; a technical and scientific savant, the Salarian would no doubt be able to provide much needed firepower to Miranda's team. Kasumi was an infiltration specialist, the master thief's tactical cloaking technology and sabotage systems would no doubt be useful. Jacob was a given, he was Miranda's second lieutenant and was an excellent co-leader. An extremely talented biotic, he would no doubt be a useful asset in a close quarters environment. Finally Samara was a biotic of almost unmatched ability; her abilities even gave Miranda pause. Should Alpha run up against any overwhelming force, Samara would be the one that could dominate the battlefield.

Then there was Garrus' Omega team. His team contained Tali, Thane, Zaeed, Grunt, and Jack. Tali was the obvious choice for Garrus' group, those two had been with each other ever since they met Shepard. Tali trusted Garrus just as much as she did Shepard, and that trust would be a huge boost for the team. Plus Tali was a technical genius when it came to unfamiliar technology and software systems. Thane was a legendary assassin. His expert marksmanship was only outmatched by his superior speed and extremely nimble agility. Garrus was an amazing shot to be sure, but Thane never missed a target. Some of the stories Kelly heard about the Drell were unbelievable. Thane treated his weapon as an extension of his body, and having Thane in the outskirts of the facility would mean that should things go south, Omega would effectively own the outside area. Zaeed was a fierce and blood thirsty warrior. A dangerous opponent with any weapon he was given. Despite his somewhat selfish and vulgar demeanor, Zaeed was actually a very cooperative member of the team. Having him on Garrus' side would no doubt make things easier for the Turian. Grunt was the epitome of the Krogan species, which meant he was naturally aggressive and extremely violent. Though since Shepard's intervention the young beast had become slightly subdued, and he was fiercely loyal to Shepard. Grunt would no doubt use every bit of his immense strength to bring him back. Then Omega had Jack, which was definitely a necessity considering Miranda was the leader of Alpha. Not that Jack cared much for Garrus any better, but at least she was willing to work with him. She was undoubtedly one of the most powerful human biotics in the galaxy; Jack's power was so immeasurable Kelly even wondered if she would give Samara trouble. Having all of Jack's biotic power on Omega's side would definitely be needed, especially should things go south.

Each one of Shepard's teammates approached her and took the data pads that contained the mission specs, facility data, as well as their squad placement. Garrus was the final crew member to approach her. Kelly gave him a warm smile as she handed him the data pad. "Good luck out there Garrus, Miranda couldn't ask for a better squad leader." The Turian smiled and walked to the elevator. However, before activating the elevator Garrus offered a small bit of reassurance to her.

"Don't worry Kelly, one way or another we're bringing him back. I promise." Kelly nodded and returned her focus to her console in front of her. Miranda exited the CIC with a shuriken machine pistol holstered to her weapon belt. The XO made her way towards Kelly in her usual composed fashion.

"Excellent work Chambers on the team recommendations, I couldn't have done a better job myself." Miranda extended gratefully.

"I'm happy to help ma'am." Kelly bashfully replied. Miranda rarely doled out compliments to the crew, so she must've been extremely sincere or at least pretended to be. Either way, Kelly appreciated it none the less.

Miranda was about to set out, when she quickly forwarded a request to EDI. "EDI establish two secure links between the teams, make sure that each radio channel is synched with the prospective groups." The AI came online and acknowledged Miranda's request.

"Of course Ms. Lawson." Kelly was about to speak when something unexpected came up. The Normandy had just picked up a transmission from within the system that matched Shepard's radio signal. Kelly recognized it almost immediately as Shepard's signal; after all she had been up for twenty-nine hours prior secretly trying to match any intercepted signals with his.

"Oh my god," She cried out loud. "Miranda come here quick!" Kelly could barely hide her excitement from her XO.

"Chambers what is it?" Miranda approached Kelly's console so she could hear what the yeoman had to say. Kelly quickly input several to try and reconstruct the newly intercepted signal. Kelly was completely oblivious to Miranda's presence.

"Chambers what is it?" Miranda spoke in an annoyed huff. Kelly had a large smile and looked to Lawson with glee.

"I've got him!"

Miranda's eyes widened with shock. "You found Shepard, but how?" Miranda took a look at the terminal to see what she was working on. A long column of ones, zeros, and letters that slowly began to form one uniform code.

"Well I've sort of been obsessing over this; about twenty hours ago I took some data I had gathered from Shepard's past communication signals to Tali. I asked her if it would be possible to track the reconstructed signal's code." The yeoman spoke with a slight embarrassment while her fingers glided across the terminal feverishly. "Tali constructed a program that could hunt for a match within the Bahak system within a twenty-four hour window. It just now produced a match, I'm downloading it now ma'am." Miranda rubbed her chin lightly with her index finger; this was impressive work, especially considering Kelly's usual role as a messenger and psychoanalyst.

"Why keep this a secret Kelly? EDI or I could have helped you move this process along." Miranda spoke more out of curiosity than out of anger. Kelly shrugged lightly and continued her work.

"Sorry ma'am but as soon as I had established Tali's program EDI locked me out of my terminal. I didn't even know that it was still up and running until I checked on it right now." She stopped working and closed her eyes; her cheeks rushed a bright pink and Miranda figured out the answer she already knew.

"You really care about him don't you?" Miranda asked, impressed by Kelly's devotion to Shepard.

"I wanted to help…but every time I offered my help, you and EDI didn't want to hear it until I had rested. But I couldn't think straight, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep until I did something." Kelly whispered in shame of how obsessive she was. Miranda let out a small smile at her subordinate; in a way her dedication to Shepard was slightly reminiscent of herself when she was hunting for Oriana.

"I understand Chambers; you've done a good job." Miranda drew herself closer to the terminal to watch Kelly work. "So what do we have?"

"One second ma'am it's downloading now…there it's done." Kelly activated the short ten second audio log, which at first started out as static. "Damn it, it's just a bunch of white noise. I can't hear-"

Miranda interrupted her to talk to EDI. "EDI, can you clean this up?"

"Yes…done, please play the message again Ms. Chambers."

Kelly complied, and hurriedly the yeoman activated her terminal. Then she heard something that made her feel like screaming with joy. Shepard's voice started to pour through the speakers.

"_All colonists living in the Bahak system you have to leave now! This is-_" Then static filled the airwaves again as Shepard's voice faded away. Kelly slammed her clenched hands against her terminal's desk in anger.

"Damn it it's just a message! I thought we had him, sorry ma'am." The yeoman gave Miranda a disappointed gaze, but Miranda had an epiphany.

"EDI," Miranda spoke aloud to the A.I. directly.

"Yes ma'am?" Miranda motioned for Kelly to step aside. The yeoman complied quickly, but still continued to watch her XO at work.

"Ma'am what's going on?" Kelly asked curiously while Miranda's hands feverishly worked at the panel.

Miranda must have not heard Kelly, that, or she was too distracted to hear her. Miranda turned her head to talk to EDI. "EDI, I'm uploading the reconstructed code to you. I want you to use the Normandy's comm array to establish a system scan. Find out where that signal came from."

"It is no trouble Ms. Lawson." The AI responded immediately. The console's orange screen grew brighter as EDI scanned the signal. A few minutes passed and Miranda clung to the console without as much as a blink. A small bar in the bottom right hand of the console's screen slowly filled as the process came to an end. The console let out a loud, short chirp then returned to normal.

"EDI what happened?" Miranda spoke curiously, and waited for the AI to respond to her.

"It's done . Based off of the available data I have located the possible point of the signal's origin. I have taken the liberty to add its location to the galaxy map."

A bright circular cursor became visible on the gigantic diagram of the Milky Way, and it slowly motioned to a spot within the system. The galactic display let out a loud chirp to alert Miranda that the coordinate had been identified.

Miranda made her way past Kelly and proceeded up the steps towards the galaxy map. She ran her gloved hand lightly against the display; a pale blue light began to envelop her hand. Tiny particles of light from the display formed a perfect outline around her fingertips, while she dragged the cursor closer to its suggested position.

Based off of EDI's scans the signal originated from a large asteroid belt approximately thirty minutes away from their current position. Miranda tried to contain the smile that tugged at her lips as she stepped down from the galaxy map.

"Excellent work EDI, and you as well Chambers."

Kelly beamed at Lawson and snapped a sharp salute to her. "Thank you ma'am."

"I am pleased to assist , will you require further assistance?" The XO shook her head in gratitude at EDI's offer.

"No thank you EDI. However alert Mr. Moreau that there has been a change in plans. Have him set a course for the location immediately."

Miranda began to make her way towards the armory to inform Taylor, before she would take the elevator down to the crew deck to inform Garrus. "Also keep the channels open and alert me immediately if we receive any more signals matching Shepard's; in the meantime I need to inform Vakarian and Taylor of the change of plans."

"Right away Operative Lawson." The AI's voice faded away and she proceeded to tell Joker the news.

Kelly approached Miranda before she could enter the armory. "Is there anything else I can do to help ma'am?" Kelly inquired respectfully.

Miranda shook her head no and explained gratefully to the yeoman. "You've done more than enough . Because of you and Tali's diligent work we have a shot at finding Shepard, now all we have to do is bring him home."


	12. Chapter 12

Ch 11 A Final Warning

_Project Base, Core Control Room. Asteroid 157-Golgotha, Bahak system. Approximately five days post-suicide mission. 0500 hours._

"Warning collision imminent."

Shepard slowly began to regain consciousness. There was a low hum emanating from the enormous eezo core a few feet in from of him. Cascading waves of azure light pulsated around its central frame. Andreas let out a throaty grunt as he brought both his hands to his sides in order to slowly prop himself up. There was an ear shattering ringing sound that circulated the room as the project VI continued its facility wide message.

"Warning collision imminent. Warning collision imminent. Warning collision imminent." Andreas shook his head lightly and grasped the crown of his head with his right hand. His head was throbbing from the explosion earlier and that VI's inane messages weren't helping.

"I get it!" Andreas loudly muttered as he made his way over to the console. The VI continued to warn him of the impending collision about four more times before Shepard finally activated the console.

Even though the VI was beginning to piss him off with the redundancy of its message, he knew it was right. Shepard approached the console Kenson was previously appointed to and he could smell the burnt flesh that clung to the air. All along the ground were bits of flesh and cloth from Kenson's suicide, a large scorch mark was all that remained of the mad woman. The smell was crippling and it assaulted his nostrils relentlessly making him gag in response. He had no idea how long he'd been out, not that he had bothered to check the time. He quickly ran his fingers along the orange holo panel and brought the radio online. Andreas input the Normandy's hailing frequency and attempted to send a message to Joker.

"Joker this is Shepard, I need an immediate evac now!"

The VI's voice filled the air and shot his message down almost immediately. "Communications system damaged, please use another console."

"Damn it!" Shepard slammed his clenched fists against the console in frustration. The orange control panel flickered lightly in response to the physical force of Shepard's hands. He released the console and paced the room with his arms akimbo. He heard the VI pass instructions to the remaining crew on how to escape.

"Evacuation protocols in effect. All personnel proceed to evacuation shuttles." Shepard's eyes widened when he heard the word escape shuttles. If he wanted to get the hell off this rock, then he would need to hoof it to one of those damn shuttles.

"VI, where can I find an escape shuttle?" Shepard waited in silent anticipation of the computer's answer.

"Take the lift from this room to the external access port. From there, you may proceed to communications tower. All remaining escape shuttles will be located on the tower's landing pad." Shepard gave a sideways cursory glance to the console's screen; the video footage the VI showed him looked like the pad he passed two days ago on his way in.

"I have to get up there and take a shuttle. It's my only chance now." Shepard said anxiously as he shifted in place. He made a rapid sprint for the door and activated its panel to take the lift. Little did Andreas know that he had less time than he thought. The ominous timer in the back of the room slowly counted down as its final thirty minutes began to pass by.

**~O~**

Most of the facility's doors were locked, so Shepard was forced to make several detours. Eventually one of the detours took him to an armory. Shepard entered and he cautiously scanned the room, seeing that there were no immediate contacts in the room Andreas made his way through. He collected as many thermal clips, grenades, and medigel packs as he could carry. Honestly, he had a bad feeling he would need them. Shepard was about to leave the room when something caught his eye. An intact ML-77 rocket launcher was sitting pretty on a nearby weapon bench, just waiting to be used. Andreas felt a small smile tug at his lips and he lifted the beautiful weapon to briefly inspect it.

The large weapon was surprisingly fully stocked with rockets, and its targeting parameters were upgraded to a near deadly accuracy. _Guess my luck doesn't always have to suck_. Shepard quickly holstered his new prize to his back and exited the room.

He soon found himself in the crew lounge that he passed two days ago. There were several overturned footstools laying about the neatly tiled floor. It obviously had not been long since the evacuation had begun, there were some cups of coffee on the table nearest to him that were still steaming. Shepard ran past the table and preceded down the hallway closest to the cargo bay, a loud alarm blared throughout every speaker as he approached the comm tower's door. He bolted down the room's stairs and made his way to the room's airlock. The Commander removed his blue N7 helmet from his side and placed it over his head as the room began its depressurization cycle. His suit let out several low hisses and Shepard's breathing grew lighter as the oxygen in his rebreather kicked in.

The airlock's door opened quickly with a low, muffled, sound. Shepard ducked to avoid the sudden barrage of bullets that flew over him. The Commander made a roll for a crate in front of him in order to avoid being gunned down. A squad of at least six soldiers began to make their way toward the Commander's position.

_Guess it would've been too much to hope for that this could be easy,_ Andreas sarcastically mused as his lowered his head to avoid the bullets impacting with his cover. Shepard did not have time to spare this time, he activated his adrenaline rush and approached one of the soldiers closest to him. The flustered guard only had time to make a panicked attempt to reload his weapon before Andreas cut him down with several bursts from his vindicator. Another guard tried to fire his avenger at the Commander, but Shepard's agility made it near impossible for the trooper to get a fix on him.

Shepard raised his battle rifle to eye level and placed several hits to the soldier's throat. Even from his distance Andreas could see the oxygen from the poor bastard's suit bleed through the new punctures he'd just made. The soldier dropped his weapon and made a grab for his windpipe before falling to the ground in a heap. Another two soldiers pelted Shepard with rounds from their rifles before he could slip into nearby cover. Shepard slapped the side of his rifle and a red piece of molten steel ejected from the weapon's side. He waited patiently in cover for his shields to heal before once again leaning out of cover to put down one of the soldiers with a blast from his vindicator.

The remaining three guards fired their rifles in succession at the Commander's cover when something horrible happened. Shepard watched in silent anguish as the last of the facility's shuttles slowly ascended into the air. Two of the guards made gestures at the shuttle in disbelief.

"No! That's the last shuttle," One of the soldiers spoke in horror.

"They left us here to die!" A second soldier replied to the former's comment.

_GOD DAMN IT! _Andreas thought in anger. _So much for my ride outta here, now I have to get to that tower. And pray that the Normandy's listening. _Shepard once again activated his adrenaline rush ability and made a graceful combat roll out of his cover.

The soldiers fired their rifles at him, but every shot was absorbed by the Commander's superior shields. Shepard fired three accurate and speedy bursts at each of soldier's helmets. All of their heads exploded in a melody of carnage and they fell to the ground dead. With the adrenaline booster still in effect he made his way closer to the tower when he heard a familiar sound close by. Out of the corner of his eye Shepard saw a YMIR class heavy mech came online and positioned itself to attack.

_Oh, Shi- _Shepard barely had time to think let alone react before the massive unit's arm cannons came online and sprayed him with heavy slugs. Shepard was extremely exposed, even with his adrenaline rush reinforcing his shields that YMIR class mech could rip right through them like they were made of tissue paper.

Shepard's adrenaline rush was on its final seconds and the Commander made one last mighty dodge for a nearby large crate. Unfortunately, Shepard failed to hear the mech's missile launcher come online and before he could even respond Andreas was hit in the stomach by the mech's rocket. Shepard's shields exploded and he let out a loud cry as he was flung a few dozen feet back against a large crate. When the Commander impacted, the crate yielded to the brute force of his slam. His ears were instantly filled with the sound of several loud, wet, snaps emanating from his abdomen. The force of the blast, coupled with the impact must've shattered his rib cage. Or at least that was what Shepard could guess as a new, raw, and unforgiving pain erupted in his torso. Shepard rolled on the floor to avoid the heavy machine gun rounds from the mech's arm cannons and he reclined against the large crate as a cover. He let out several dry coughs for air and clutched his right side with his left hand.

Shepard looked for his vindicator but saw that it was more than a few feet away from him. Shepard tried to move to get it, but every move he made was met with an excruciating pain that almost made him black out from the feeling alone. Shepard clenched his teeth and made a quick move to look at the mech. The cumbersome machine was slowly making its way over to his position; this whole scenario was starting to feel like a repeat of last time.

Fortunately, for Andreas he had a new toy that he didn't have last time round. Shepard unholstered the rocket launcher he had taken from the armory before, he leaned it slightly out of cover so that the VI in the weapon's targeting system could acquire a target. Bullets splashed against his cover, narrowly missing the muzzle of his rocket launcher. A few seconds later the missile launcher let out several muffled beeping noises, and its screen turned red to let Andreas know that the target had been found. Shepard drew in one large breath and rose to his feet to fire a barrage of rockets at the mech.

The large mech attempted to shoot down some of them, but only managed to hit two of the seven rockets Shepard had fired at it. The five rockets proved to be more than enough to easily peel the massive machine's primary defenses away. Shepard receded into cover to avoid the retaliation fire and he clenched his teeth as the machine's heavy slugs impacted his position, sending sharp spikes of pain throughout his body. His shields were not returning at that point, that blast from the rocket must have overloaded his armor's kinetic barrier generator. He was also beginning to feel a little light headed; he could feel something warm dripping down his stomach. That rocket must've reopened his stitches. Shepard aimed his rocket launcher away from the mech and squeezed the trigger. The mech was focused on his position and neglected to fire at the new projectile. The missile made a straight skyward path away from Shepard before the targeting algorithms kicked in. It then made a wide mid-air turn and flew with intense speed toward the mech.

The mech aimed its cannon at the missile to shoot it down, but by then it was too late. The missile impacted with the mech's right cannon and destroyed it instantly. The now one armed mech began emitting smoke and flames as it began to explode. Shepard ducked into his cover and clung to it tightly to brace himself for the oncoming explosion. When the mech finally exploded, there was a massive shockwave that shook his cover with a powerful concussive force.

Shepard struggled to get to his feet, he just felt like lying on the ground and passing out, but he knew he didn't have the time to spare. The Commander let out a loud yell and adjusted his posture to alleviate as much pain from his abdomen as possible. He could see the Alpha relay in the background slowly approaching the asteroid; he stumbled and shuffled as quickly as he could to get to the communications tower. After an unbearable five minutes of limping, Shepard eventually made his way to the tower's console and made a desperate grab for the terminal in order to support his body.

Shepard input a few keystrokes into the console and the VI alerted him that the comm channels were now open. Shepard took a few steps back and clutched his side in anguish. His stomach was throbbing with raw pain and every move stole more oxygen from his lungs. Shepard raised his left hand to his helmet's ear piece, since his right hand was currently busy clutching his side.

"Shepard to Normandy, Joker do you copy?" Shepard spoke breathlessly but stopped as an ominous figure appeared to his left. A bright golden Reaper appeared before him; despite the fact that it was a hologram, the Reaper still looked massive. It had to be at least twice the size of Sovereign. The creature glowed with a piercing golden light, a light that struck him as eerily familiar. This must be Harbinger, that Reaper that had been dominating the Collectors he'd been fighting. Up until now Shepard's only interaction with Harbinger had been through those powerful Collector generals he'd been fighting, aside from Kenson and her team of course.

The enormous machine's appendages collapsed behind its back, and its synthetic voice echoed in the empty vacuum of space. "Shepard, you have become an annoyance. Your cycle fights against its own inevitability, dust struggling against the cosmic winds of infinity. You think that this is a victory, a star system sacrificed? Yet even now, your greatest civilizations loom ever closer to their doom. Your leaders will grovel on their knees before us." Shepard took a few steps forward and clenched his fists in anger. He was tired of this bastard's arrogance, he thought of all the things the Reaper artifact had shown him. This monster was threatening everyone he cared about, everything that had ever meant anything to him. Shepard felt the blood boiling in his veins and he decided to put this son of a bitch in its place.

"Maybe you're right, maybe we really can't win a war against you. Maybe you'll even succeed and kill all of us. But we will fight you to our last breath regardless of that; just like we did with your pal Sovereign at the Citadel two years ago, just like my team and I did against your slaves the Collectors, and just like I'm doing here today." Shepard pointed at the monster with an unbound fury and yelled at it assertively. "However insignificant you think organics might be; we will fight you to our last soul, we will sacrifice all that is necessary, and we will find a way to end you once and for all. Because that's what organics do, we thrive by overcoming adversities like you."

Harbinger remained unfazed by the Commander's fevered retorts and callously spoke down to him. "Then know this as you condemn this star system to death in your vain attempts at success. Your cycle's time is ending; your species will be the first to be harvested, and you, you will be made the herald of our return. Prepare yourself for our arrival." Shepard watched in stoic silence as Harbinger's form quickly faded away. He took a few steps back and gasped as his rib cage ignited in fresh searing pain.

Suddenly a familiar sight grabbed his attention, and he couldn't help but smile as the Normandy's frame came into view. Joker's voice began to fill his helmet and Shepard felt a cooling relief as he spoke. "Shepard thank God you're alive! ETA ten seconds; get ready for a pickup." The large ship gracefully began to descend towards the shuttle pad. Dust and smoke from the freshly uplifted sediment filled the air, and Shepard was swathed in a cloud of ash. Shepard brought his left hand to his ear and began to take a few steps back.

"Roger that Joker," He gasped in pain as he started his erratic movements towards the Normandy's projected landing zone. He hobbled as quickly as he could and saw the Normandy touch down slightly above his level. He raised his right arm to keep as much dust as possible from smashing against his visor. Shepard's sides felt like they would burst open at any minute, every step sent a crippling surge of pain all along his body. Shepard saw the Normandy's port side airlock open, and he noticed Garrus waiting expectantly for him. The large armored turian made a motion for Shepard to jump for him and Garrus extended an arm to grab him. Shepard stumbled a few times before drawing in one final large gulp of air and jumping for his companion's hand.

"I've got you." Garrus grabbed hold of Shepard's wrist and forcefully pulled him inside, much to Andreas' displeasure as the pain in his side increased exponentially.

They both landed on the ground and Shepard let out a muffled curse as his tender sides made contact with the metal tiling of the decontamination chamber. The large doors to the airlock sealed with a muffled vacuum-like suction noise and oxygen began to fill the room as it re-pressurized. Shepard rose to his feet sharply and fidgeted impatiently as the decontamination sequence began. Garrus had said something about him bleeding, but Shepard was too distracted to even acknowledge it. Shepard made a mad dash as soon as the doors to the cock pit opened, and he was at Joker's side in a flash. "Get us the hell out of here Joker, now!" Shepard barked aggressively.

"You're preaching to the choir." Joker's hands danced along the carrot colored holographic screens in front of him. Each screen came alive with data as the Normandy speedily made its way toward the Alpha relay. EDI cut into Joker's work with an unexpected urgency.

"Jeff!"

"Not now EDI!" Joker impatiently stated as he did his best to avoid the massive planet-sized mass behind them.

"Jeff, I am detecting Reaper IFF signatures near the borders of the system!" Both Shepard and Garrus gave each other apprehensive looks and proceeded to the window closest to Joker's left side. Garrus' eyes widened in horror as over a dozen Reaper ships began to bleed into the system and each emitted a horrific horn like noise of defiance.

Even Joker took his eyes off his work in worry, and Shepard saw all the color flush from his skin. The Commander gave Joker a reassuring pat on the shoulder to alleviate his pilot's worries. "It doesn't matter, we make it through that relay and they're TARFU'd. Joker, do it." Joker gave a solemn nod and the Normandy entered the relay's mass effect field generator. The large ship was instantly engulfed by electricity and element zero energy, a bright blue aura surrounded the ship, and a loud crack filled the empty void of space as the Normandy shot off to safety. Shepard heard Harbinger's voice whisper to them directly, in a tone that made his flesh crawl.

"You only delay the inevitable, Shepard."

The Reaper ships fired their crimson lasers at the massive mound of rock in an attempt to destroy it, but it was already too far gone to stop. The Alpha relay let out several sparks as it struggled to accelerate the massive asteroid; eventually the Project accomplished its job. Asteroid 157 Golgotha slammed into the relay; the sleek metallic frame of the mass relay began to buckle under the sheer force and weight.

The Normandy exited the mass effect field with a thundering clap; the jump had placed them several systems away in the Omega Nebula, more specifically the Sahrabrik system. Shepard stepped away from Joker's side and ran to the galaxy map, leaving small droplets of blood in his wake. Garrus did his best to follow his friend; the turian was more than worried about Shepard's current state. Shepard bypassed Kelly completely and made his way up the steps of the galaxy map. Garrus made his way over to the galaxy map and exchanged a distraught look with Kelly. The young red head turned to her lover expectantly and watched in pained silence as Shepard's hands constricted themselves tightly around the railing of the galaxy map. Shepard brought up the location of the Bahak System and watched the system in silence.

Back in the Bahak system the Reaper forces did their best to try and destroy the asteroid, but it had already fulfilled its purpose. The Alpha relay was sheared in twain, a bright blue orb of built up element zero energy expanded and retracted, before sending out a massive supernova of energy all across the system engulfing several Reaper units in the process.

Shepard watched in horror as one by one the planets in the system slowly dissipated from the galaxy map. Eventually all that remained of the Bahak system was the name and former location of the once densely inhabited system. Shepard sank his head in anguish, and his fists vibrated out of the increased pressure he placed on them. The Bahak system was gone.

Kelly didn't need to see his face to know how mournful he was; she cupped her arms in sadness and did her best not to cry at the sight of him in such self-inflicted anguish. She started to speak softly and took a few steps closer to him. "Andreas…?" Garrus quickly grabbed her right shoulder and lightly squeezed it. He shook his head no, as though to tell her to give him some time. She nodded in agreement, and withdrew her comment. Shepard heard her, and at least looked toward her direction to acknowledge her, if only slightly.

She hated seeing him like this, and she knew he was going blame himself for what had just transpired. Even though she fully understood Garrus' reasons for holding her back, she couldn't help but feel a slight anger build up inside of her. She didn't want to just stand there; she wanted to rush to his side, to wrap her arm around his, she wanted to be there for him. Though she knew Garrus was right; Andy would need his space, and no matter how much she wished she could just share in his pain. Kelly would just have to accept the fact that he would need some time.

Shepard raised his head slightly to talk to EDI.

"EDI..." he spoke in a low whisper.

"Yes, Shepard." The AI responded respectfully and waited patiently for his response.

"Before you guys came for me, did…did you register any traffic emitting from the Alpha relay, anything at all?" Andreas spoke in a saddened mumble.

"I am afraid not, Shepard. The only reason we were able to find you was due to and Tali tracking your message to your location. I fear that your message was not received by the colony, I am sorry."

Shepard bowed his head and he grumbled heatedly. "Goddamn it…"

Kelly's eyes focused intensely on Andy. Her face softened, and she closed her eyes in sorrow over his resentful posture. She brought her hands together between her lap, and stood in silence waiting for him to give them an order.

Shepard let out a loud grunt and started to remove his helmet. It let out several hushed sounds as the rebreather inside deactivated. He threw the unwanted object aside angrily, and its visor nearly cracked at the force with which it was thrown. Kelly saw that his normally pleasant face was now stained with an angry scowl.

"EDI, I'm gonna go get this shit off me. Get us over to the Sol System ASAP, I need to debrief with Admiral Hackett." Shepard stood up and was about to turn around when EDI began to propound him.

"Shepard, I would advise that you get to the medical bay immediately so Doctor Chakwas can examine you. I am detecting several bits of shrapnel and minor lacerations along your lower abdomen. You also have several broken ribs and may be suffering from internal hemorrhaging. It would be detrimental to have you work under such conditions, if need be I will enlist to escort you to the medical bay."

"EDI, I gave you an order."

"Yes and I am giving you a suggestion, Shepard, if you do not follow my suggestion it may lead to further complications."

"For the last time EDI I said get us to the Sol System, I don't-" Shepard stopped and stole a full look at Kelly. He saw that her eyes were ablaze with concern; they seemed to silently beg him to at least do this for her. Those emerald eyes seemed to reach into his soul, and he realized that he didn't have any right to act like this, not with Kelly. He let out a low breath, and his eyes closed in frustration. Small wrinkles creased his normally warm brow.

"Fine EDI, Tell Chakwas I'm on my way, but the minute we reach the Sol System, you let me know, not before and not after. Understood?" Shepard spoke coldly to the AI and marched off without as much as a backward glance at Kelly. He stood in silence as the elevator doors closed. As much as he wanted to rush to her and embrace her till his arms fell off, he just didn't feel himself. Killing over 300,000 people had a funny way of killing Shepard's sex drive. The most he allowed himself to do was steal another quick glance at Kelly, so he could at least savor her comely appearance.

Kelly let out a saddened sigh, and she closed her eyes tiredly. Even though Andy seemed colder and more distant than normal, she couldn't have been happier. He was home, after two days of distraught nights and many shed tears she finally had him back, albeit a little worse for wear. Of course it would take time for Andy to return to his normal cheerful mannerisms, she still wanted to be there for him through it all. Even if he shrugged her off, she was not just going to back down from helping him through this. She loved him; she valued his happiness and joy more than anything in this bleak galaxy. Whether or not he wanted her to, she wasn't just going to let this incident ruin him; he had sacrificed too much, denied himself too many of life's joys for him to end up a broken man.

Garrus approached her side, and she could tell what he was going to say before it even had a chance to flee his mandibles. "I'm just happy he's safe Garrus, I'm going down to the medical bay to ask Karin if there's anything I can do to help." She started to make her way to the door when Garrus offered a few words to her.

"Kelly, I know you want to be there for him right now. But he's going to need his space to vent, so don't take it too personally if he's a little ruder than normal, ok?"

Kelly turned abashed and saw that his expression was full of sympathy, despite most Turians' normally enigmatic stone like features. She gave him a weary smile and proceeded into the elevator without uttering a word.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12: From Bad to Worse

_Medical bay, Normandy SR2. Sol System, Earth's orbit. Approximately four hours post Bahak system incident. 0945 hours._

Kelly winced tightly as the needle in her right arm was withdrawn with the greatest of care. A gloved hand placed a small ball of cotton over the puncture sight. "Just hold it there for a minute, while I fetch a dressing for your wound." The British physician spoke candidly to the young redhead.

Kelly propped herself upright in the chair next to Andreas, who was breathing lightly sound asleep. She ran her fingers lovingly through his hair to remove a small bit of dust that collected in his scalp. She smiled warmly as she watched him sleep; his light snoring was all that she needed to rejuvenate her haggard spirit. Her body however was in an entirely different state, and one that was not as easily mended. The gray haired woman bent slightly to place the wrapping tightly around Kelly's inner elbow.

She offered the yeoman a warm smile and rose to examine a data pad. "I believe you've done about as much as is currently required, . I would suggest taking some time to go get a meal, or at the very least something sweet to replenish your lost blood." Kelly looked at the empty IV bags that lay next to her that were stained with her blood. She shook her head lightly and placed her hands on the arms of her chair to lift herself up. Her arms shook unsteadily, and Chakwas rushed to her side immediately to place her back into the chair.

"Really, Doctor, I'm fine, just a little dizzy I guess. Can I stay here, to keep an eye on Shepard?" Kelly wearily spoke to palliate the woman's fears. Dr. Chakwas simply shook her head in defiance and chastised Kelly maternally.

"Chambers, he's been asleep ever since he came back from the Bahak system. Trust me, if he so much as twitches, I will rush to alert you, but right now we need to replenish your lost blood cells. He wouldn't want you to risk your health for him and you know that. Now come on, let's go get something for you before you pass out." Kelly closed her eyes and nodded sadly. Chakwas did her best to assist the yeoman out of the seat and toward the door. Kelly raised her hand to convey to Chakwas that she was fit enough to walk on her own. Chakwas reluctantly released her from her grip, and Kelly turned her head to talk to the gray haired doctor.

"Chakwas, if anything changes…"

Kelly was cut off as Doctor Chakwas gave her a nod of understanding and she smiled warmly at her. "You'll be the first to know; now off we go. That's all that I'll hear in this regard." The gray haired woman waved her hand dismissively at the yeoman and Kelly followed her out of the room in defeat.

Chakwas and Kelly approached Rupert's workstation, and the chef smiled warmly at the two women. "Mornin' ladies, how's he doin' Doctor?" Gardner asked respectfully as he ran a clean snow white dish towel through a glass in order to dry it.

Kelly turned her head back to the medical bay and Chakwas replied clinically. "His injuries weren't fatal. Though he lost quite a bit of blood, Yeoman Chambers managed to supplement what blood he lost with her own. Which is why we're here, Kelly could use some nourishment to help speed up the replacement of her donated blood." Kelly turned slightly pink with embarrassment and Gardner smiled at her with admiration.

"Would you see to it that she gets some food and drink in her, Gardner? I have to return to my office to monitor Shepard's condition." Gardner gave her a slight nod in understanding, and seeing that her orders had been received Chakwas made her way back to the med bay.

"Well lemme just see what I got in this ol' girl. Got anything in particular you're after ?" Gardner sunk himself into the fridge and rummaged its insides thoroughly.

_Time with Andy, _Kelly thought in worried silence.

"Do you have anything sweet to drink, or maybe some kind of juice?" Kelly asked distractedly, for the life of her she just could not keep her attention off of the medical bay. She didn't even notice or hear Gardner's response to her request and would have been oblivious to his presence entirely, had the slight _thump_ of the cup hitting the counter not roused her attention back to him.

The balding man held a carton of juice in his hand at its midsection while his other hand ran along its top to unscrew the cap. The carton was a vibrant lavender color, with small letters running along its side and front. The letters were inscribed in gold lettering, although it was in Asari writing. If her memory served her correctly the lettering spelled out _Nectar of the Goddess, _at least that's what she could gather, it had been a while since she dusted off her Asari linguistic skills. Rupert poured the drink slowly into the cup; the creamy orange colored contents cascaded and splashed gracefully against the sides of the glass. Once he finished he politely passed the glass to the expectant redhead, to which she beamed a contented smile at him and nodded respectfully.

"Thank you Rupert," Kelly took a small sip of the orange liquid. It was ice cold and a soothing sensation filled her raw throat as it slowly crept down towards her stomach. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was; before a minute had passed she had already downed half of the orange beverage. The drink was a foreign but welcome new taste to her palate, its smell resembled that of a coconut from back on Earth, but its taste was more akin to a mango crossed with a banana, with a slightly strawberry after taste. Rupert looked to her expectantly and motioned to her if she would care for a refill, to which she nodded gratefully.

"Good stuff huh?" The chef asked happily as he poured another half a glass into her cup.

"It's very good, what do the Asari make it out of?" The slight distraction in subject matter and tone was something Kelly was more than happy to indulge.

"Can't rightfully say ma'am, my Asari is more than a little rusty. But I asked Samara, she said that it was made of some fruit native to Thessia. Thing only blooms every couple of years, the fruit that it yields only grows to the size of an apple and they perish quickly. That Justicar says they're called the Heart of the Goddess cause of some ol' story about an Asari matriarch that was approached by Athame herself for her beauty and wisdom; as a gift to that matriarch, she gave her that fruit. Athame told the matriarch that she would always hold her heart, and so that's why they call it the Heart of the Goddess. Cause the seeds inside, when the fruit is ripe that is, will form the shape of a heart."

"Wow, that's an amazing story Rupert, thank you for telling me about it." She replied with a genuine appreciativeness, Kelly always enjoyed listening to the stories of other cultures. She felt it was the only way that Humanity, or any species for that matter, could evolve and advance as a whole.

Gardner bowed his head and motioned to ask if she would like some more, to which she politely declined. He replaced the carton to its spot inside the fridge and turned his attention to her once again. "You know the stove isn't broken, want me to fix ya something Ms. Chambers?"

She kindly shook her head no and smiled warmly at him. "Thank you Rupert but this was more than enough, I appreciate the offer though."

"Don't mention it." Before Kelly could wander off, Rupert offered her one last tiding. "Oh, and ma'am, don't you worry. Your boyfriend's gonna be just fine, I know it. That man's as tough as they come, and I know a few slugs aren't enough to stop him." He gave her a reassuring smile, before getting ready to prepare a meal for the crew.

Kelly said nothing and retreated to the window with her drink in hand. She stopped short of the window and watched in silence as Andy lay stiff as a board, his chest barely expanding as he breathed softly. Kelly was lost in her thoughts; each one was more solemn and melancholy than the last. Fortunately her friend roused her from her harmful thoughts.

"Hey Red," Kasumi spoke consolingly to the young red head as her cloaking field slowly dissipated.

"Hey," Kelly replied distractedly while her fingers danced around her small glass.

"How's Shep holding up?" The thief asked with concern over his condition. Kelly lightly traced a circular outline on the top of her glass with her index finger, while she mulled over what to say next.

Kelly brought the glass to her lips and took a small sip to alleviate the dry feeling in her throat that had suddenly come on. "He's doing well, all things considered. Chakwas managed to slap some medigel on his ribs, and she stitched up his cuts. She said he will have some discomfort while his bones heal for the next five days but that's negligible."

"Good to hear. Listen Kel', I'm sorry this had to happen to him. He's a good man." Kasumi folded her arms across her chest, consumed by her thoughts. "So how are you doing? You spend so much time worrying about the crew's well being, that I don't think anyone other than Shepard stops you to ask you that."

Kelly gave a slight shrug and she took another sip of the fragrant orange mixture. "I'm fine, it's Andy that I'm worried about. You didn't see him Kasumi when the Bahak System exploded. He looked so defeated, his eyes held so much pain in them, it…it hurts to even think about. I don't like seeing him like that." Kelly closed her eyes sadly and tried to force the awful image of Andreas' guilt stricken face from her mind.

"Well I'm proud to see that you've already helped him." The hooded woman pointed a gloved finger toward Kelly's freshly dressed injection sight. Kelly let out a small embarrassed smile; her cheeks flushed a dull pink and she quickly averted her eyes towards the med bay window.

_Aww Kel, that's sweet. He is one lucky man to have you in his life. _Kasumi thought with impish delight at Kelly's selfless gift to Shepard.

"Well, he needed the blood, and since I didn't see anyone lining up for the job. I figured it might as well be me." The yeoman spoke softly to her companion, before taking another lengthy sip of her juice. The thief turned her head to face Chambers', and she waited till Kelly had had her fill before continuing the conversation.

"So, Kelly, how do you think he's going to handle this? I mean killing over 350,000 people, wow, I bet Grunt's going to be jealous." Kelly flashed the thief a chastising glare almost immediately, and Kasumi brought her hands up in defense. "I'm sorry, that was a joke, just trying to lighten the mood. You're acting like he's already dead."

"He's not dead K, and thank heaven for that." Kelly sharply rebuked her friend. "But to be honest, I have no idea. He's been through so much pain, so much suffering; I wouldn't even know where to begin to help him." Kelly's voice returned back to normal, and she took one final sip of juice from her glass.

"You can start by just being there for him. I know just having you at his side will be all he needs to get through this Kel."

"Garrus thinks I should let him have his space. Y'know, give Andreas some time to breathe?"

"Of course he does, Garrus may be one hell of a soldier, but a relationship coach…not so much. Besides, I think Shep's breathing is going to be just fine, unless you're on top of course." Kelly gave a shocked look at Kasumi, but instead of getting angry, Kelly actually laughed.

Seeing her friend finally brighten up after two days of sorrowful moping was all the reward Kasumi needed, that and the small snicker she let out in collaboration with Kelly's.

"But seriously Kel, you need to be there for him, and I don't just mean physically. After what's just happened, I can't imagine he'll be feeling 100%. I know just having you there with him will make all the difference. Oh, and don't forget about what I said earlier. You don't always have to make 'em work so hard to hear those three words, especially when they've just been knocked on their asses." Kasumi folded her arms behind her back and relaxed her posture. Kelly suddenly beamed with excitement and joy, as Shepard's stirring cut the tension. Kelly flashed a relieved smile when she saw Andy coughing and showing signs of life.

.

**~O~**

Shepard's tired eyes batted lightly to adjust to the Normandy's artificial lighting. He was just happy to know he wouldn't have to fight his way out this time. He moved slightly in place and tried to sit up, but each his efforts were met with a near horrific level of intense pain. He let out a sharp inhale of air, and laid his head back onto his pillow in defeat.

"Oh good, you're awake, Shepard. You had us worried there for a while, how do you feel?" He summoned what strength he had to prop himself up on his elbows, and he looked to address the gray haired doctor.

"Like shit, but grateful that I'm still breathing. How long have I been out?" He hadn't intended to sound so rude, but between the sharp pain in his side and the Bahak system memories still fresh in his mind he really didn't feel all that great. Doctor Chakwas must've understood because she simply continued unfazed.

"About four hours, give or take a few minutes. I haven't really been watching the clock as of late."

"Did we make it to the Sol System yet?"

"Yes, we've been in orbit around Earth for about an hour now."

Shepard shook his head in disbelief and raised his attention to EDI. "EDI, I thought I asked you to alert me the minute we reached Sol?"

EDI's synthesized voice filled the medical bay in defense of her actions. "My apologies, Commander, but asked that you not be disturbed until you had some time to rest."

"Right, and EDI, about earlier…" He started to apologize but was cut off by her swift response.

"No apologies are necessary, Shepard, but thank you."

Shepard nodded slightly and turned his attention to his doctor. "So how bad was the damage? Hope I didn't give you too much of a scare, Doc."

"The damage was substantial, but not life threatening in your case. You had several lacerations along your lower right side, most likely from shrapnel. I spent a good two hours removing every bit of it, I'll have you know. You also had several bullet wounds in your leg, in addition to some bruising along your neck. You have about four injured ribs; two of them are fractures, and the other two are broken. I applied the medigel as quickly as I could, but medical science has only advanced so far. You will most likely feel enormous amounts of pain while the medigel replaces your injured ribs with new cartilage and bone marrow. I have already taken the liberty to prescribe you some pain medication."

The gray haired physician strolled professionally over to an adjacent cupboard and removed a large bottle of pills. She then continued in her matter of factly fashion. "Paracetamol, 500mg. Don't worry there are no long term complications or side effects that will hinder you, you just need to take 1 to 2 of these every four hours for about four days. By then the pain will have in all likelihood subsided, I did give you a strong dose of medigel after all. You should be feeling better by day three. I'd ask that you check in with me tomorrow at your convenience so that we can see if your ribs have taken to the medigel properly. I'd also like to run some tests tomorrow to make sure you don't develop any secondary infections in your lungs or wounds. Though I would ask that you avoid all _strenuous physical activity_, but I trust that you wouldn't follow any of my advice." She purposefully stressed that last part to convey that he should not be fooling around, like he was some horny teenager.

He rolled his eyes at her remark and struggled to sit upright on the gurney. Andreas grunted loudly and touched his left arm curiously. He didn't remember getting shot there, yet there was a bandage wrapped around his inner forearm. He also noted a few blood stained bags directly behind him and he lifted one of the empty plastic sacs to examine it. "Doc what's with the bandage and the IV bags?"

"Oh right," Chakwas replied. "In addition to your physical injuries, you also lost about three and a half pints of blood; Ms. Chambers willingly donated some of her own so that we could replenish yours."

"She did?" Andreas spoke low in disbelief and looked to his right to see Kasumi and Kelly conversing. He let a small smile tug at his bearded visage. Doctor Chakwas shook her head in conformation and continued.

"Yes, I believe the poor woman has been burning the candle at both ends worrying about you. She truly does care for you, Shepard."

"Yeah, she does." he happily whispered to himself. Chakwas could see his face grow a slight crimson color, and she smiled happily at him.

**~O~**

Kelly rushed toward the door of the medical wing, but stopped when she realized she had almost forgotten to say thank you to Kasumi for talking with her. "Kasumi, thank you, you don't mind if I…?"

Kelly turned to find no one present aside from Gardner, Goldstein, and Hawthorne. Kasumi must've vanished when she turned her head toward the door. _Thanks for the talk K. _Kelly mused with an immeasurable amount of appreciation. The yeoman made her way to the medical bay door; she stopped briefly and did her best to straighten her hair and uniform for Andy. _How stupid are you? Here the love of your life is finally safe and within your grasp, yet all you can think about is whether he'll think that you look pretty._ Kelly angrily thought as she forcibly stopped her uniform adjustment.

Kelly was about to enter the medical bay when a familiar or rather more recent face greeted her. It was Admiral Hackett, the Alliance officer who had embarrassingly caught her naked not two days ago. All the blood rushed to her face and she awkwardly shifted in place.

"Hello, sir," Kelly squeaked low at the Admiral formally.

She was so embarrassed she felt like fainting, although that could've easily been from the amount of blood she'd donated.

"Ma'am," He replied sternly and in the same graveled voice that she had heard before. "I'm here to see Commander Shepard; flight lieutenant Moreau said I could find him in here."

Her arms crossed her chest, even though she was fully clothed she still felt embarrassingly nude. Kelly could feel the memory of that morning still clawing at the back of her mind.

"Yes, Admiral, he's right in here, I was just about to go in and see him."

"Would you mind if I talked to him for a moment? I have important issues to discuss with him, in private." He crossed his arms behind his back and stood stiffly at ease as he patiently awaited her reply.

"Of course sir, I won't keep you." Naturally she wasn't going to say no, Hackett was one of the highest ranking military officers in the Alliance Navy. While she was just some lowly secretary, she could always talk to Andy later.

Even though he didn't have to, he at least thanked her for her understanding and sauntered into the med bay. Kelly bolted back to the window to watch the two men talk.

Doctor Chakwas acknowledged him immediately. "Admiral Hackett, it's been a while sir." She flashed him a respectful salute to which he returned.

"That it has Chakwas, how's he holding up?" He motioned with his head toward Shepard.

"Aside from a few physical maladies I'd say he's going to be fine."

"Good to hear, would you mind giving us some privacy?"

Shepard stole a quick look at Chakwas, and she nodded in response to the Admiral's query.

"Of course Admiral take all the time you need. Shepard do you need anything before I go?" Chakwas turned her attention quickly to her patient, whom was currently busy clutching his side.

Andreas let out a loud dry cough and replied exhaustedly, "Yeah, could you bring me a glass of water, with a lot of ice?" He spoke between coughing fits.

"I'll bring you some water, however I fear that ice is out of the question. It will more than likely cause more chest pain for you."

"Fine," Shepard said with a slight disappointment. He really wanted that glass of ice water. His throat was beginning to feel like the surface of Therum.

The doctor soon exited the med bay, leaving the two men alone to talk. Doctor Chakwas professionally stepped out into the crew mess. Kelly casually strolled over to the woman to join in her journey to the water cooler. " , I take it you've had something to eat or drink by now?"

Kelly held her empty glass between her fingers and she spoke with a low voice. "I haven't eaten anything yet, but I have had some juice if it makes you feel better."

"Marginally, though I would feel more comfortable if you had something a little more filling than that." She retrieved a small plastic cup from one of the cabinets near Gardner's fridge and took it to the water cooler.

"I guess I'm just not all that hungry Doctor." Which even Kelly found surprising, considering that whatever Gardner was cooking right next to them smelt amazing. Dr. Chakwas started to fill the small clear cup with water until it was near full.

"Is that-" Kelly tried to ask but was cut off by .

"For Shepard, yes, I suspected he'd be thirsty after all he's been through."

"Karin, do you know what they're talking about in there? I mean, what's the Alliance going to do to Shepard because of all this?" Kelly asked worriedly, which was only exacerbated by the physician's shoulder shrugging of uncertainty.

"I'm not sure ; all I can say is that in all likelihood this will definitely cause some concern for the Alliance. The Batarians don't take too kindly to our kind after all."

"I know," Kelly's hand danced around the ring of her glass in silent worry over Andy. The doctor could sense her apprehension and gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"Come on dear, let's get you something to eat. You'll need the strength if you're going to keep worrying this much." The two began to stroll towards the newly formed line of crewmen that had come for breakfast. Kelly let out a small smile at the doctor's attempts at consolation and followed her lead.

Hackett cleared his throat and got the conversation started. "It sounds like you went through all nine circles of hell down there on Arahtot, Shepard, how are you holding up?" He asked with a clearly audible concern.

"I'm fine, no more visions of the Reapers if that's what you're asking." He adjusted his posture as straight as he could to relieve the sudden sharp spike of pain in his stomach. "I have to admit I didn't expect to see you here sir."

"You went down there into that hell hole to rescue my friend as a favor to me. Out of respect for our past I thought it too impersonal to debrief you from behind a vid screen. That was of course before the Alpha relay exploded taking an entire Batarian held system with it. Just what the hell happened down there exactly, Commander?"

Shepard coughed lightly and adjusted his face to eye level with Hackett's face. "How much do you know about the incident already?"

The Alliance admiral's brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed down on Shepard. "All I know is that I asked you to go down there to rescue my friend, and now an entire star system has suddenly dropped off the galactic map. I certainly hope you can fill in the leap of logic between the two events."

Shepard did his best to stand up; once he was up on his feet, he walked a few inches closer to Hackett. Andreas handed the veteran officer a data pad and began to recall the event in question. "I confirmed Doctor Kenson's proof; the Reapers were coming, and destroying the Alpha relay was the only way to stop them. Kenson and her team were indoctrinated by a Reaper artifact they recovered from an asteroid in the system. By the time I found out, her team had already overwhelmed me and sedated me. She kept me under for almost two days; by the time I came to I had less than two hours to get the project up and running. I started the engines with little more than an hour left. I tried to send a message to the Batarian colony, but, time just ran out." Hackett could tell Shepard took no pleasure in that last part so he did his best to alleviate Andreas' guilt.

"The Batarian Hegemony reports that no survivors made it off of Arahtot, but I'm glad to see you at least tried to save them." He took a few steps back from Shepard and rested his hand to his chin. "And you really felt that this Reaper threat was valid?"

"Without a doubt sir, my team and I saw them enter the system just before we left." Shepard replied sternly.

"My god, well I'm sure all of the details are there in your report." He took a moment to let out a small sigh before continuing. "I'm not going to lie to you Commander, this is bad. The Batarian Hegemony is going to want blood for this, and there's just enough evidence here to give 'em a good reason. And we don't want a war with the Batarians, not with the Reapers barging at our door step."

"What're you saying sir?" Shepard felt a sharp pain rise in his abdomen, so he reclined against Chakwas' desk to support himself.

"I know you did what was needed with the best of intentions, but, there were over three hundred thousand innocent people on that colony. Every one of them is dead now."

Shepard felt his blood boil; he clenched his fist against the counter top, and he closed his eyes in frustration. "You think I don't know that? What I sacrificed them for saved trillions of lives. Had there been another solution you can bet your ass I would've risked everything to do it!" Hackett stood motionless, completely unfazed by the Commander's rude retort. To be quite honest, he didn't mean to offend Shepard with his comments, he was just stating the facts. Hackett still remembered that science team Shepard saved all those years ago on the planet Chohe. Shepard cleared the base without a single civilian casualty and then told Hackett it was just his job. The Admiral knew Shepard may have been called a lot of things lately, but the Commander was anything but a killer.

"I know you would've, Shepard, you're not one to toss innocent lives to the wayside willingly. Believe me, were this choice up to me I'd have already given you your damn medal, and we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Unfortunately, a lot of people aren't going to see things as we do, and they are not just going to let something like this slide."

Shepard rested his hands against the desk. "So then what do you suggest we do?"

Hackett straightened his posture and crossed his arms behind his back at ease. "Evidence against you and your team is dicey at best, but at some point, you are going to have to go back to Earth and answer for what you've done. I can't stop that from happening, but between me and Anderson, we should be able to buy you enough time with the Alliance parliament so that you can put as much distance between you and your team as possible."

The Commander rubbed his squared jaw line in silent contemplation. To be honest, he didn't like this, but he knew Hackett was right. If his team stayed with him they'd pay for what he'd done too. After all the good they'd done for him, he would not let that happen, not to them, not to her. Shepard placed his hands to his sides and stood up. "I have to admit, sir, I'm shocked to see you willingly step aboard a Cerberus ship."

Hackett's face darkened and he spoke crossly at Shepard. "I'm not going to pretend I'm a fan of Cerberus or how they run their operations. But they brought you back, plus unlike the Council or the Alliance, they actually took a stand and did something about the state of the galaxy. Besides, from what Joker and your crew have told me so far this isn't exactly a Cerberus vessel anymore, right?" Shepard thought he saw a small smile tug at the Admiral's tight lipped mouth.

"What about the Batarians sir, is the Alliance concerned about their response to all this?"

"Very," his smile quickly faded, and he resumed his no nonsense persona. "The Batarians have been hunting for an excuse to wage war on humanity since we first showed up in the galaxy. When the Reapers invade, we're going to need every species to even have a chance at survival. If we got dragged into a galactic conflict with them now, then I doubt the other races or the Council would be willing to give aid to either side."

Shepard coughed one last time before asking the question they both no doubt were pondering. "Are we ready for the Reaper invasion?"

Hackett let out a small sigh; even though the grizzled veteran normally never showed emotion, Shepard recognized the one he was wearing now, fear.

"That one's more difficult to say. As you no doubt recall, it took multiple Alliance fleets, plus the Destiny Ascension just to bring Sovereign down, and that was just for one Reaper. If and when the Reapers come in force, I just don't know if we'll be ready for a conflict of that magnitude."

Shepard rose to his feet and took a few steps towards the admiral. He proudly proclaimed. "I'll gladly stand trial, now that my mission is done." Hackett did his best to conceal a small grin that came over his hardened exterior. He was proud of Shepard, because after everything that happened to him, he was still the hero that Hackett knew.

"I knew working with Cerberus wouldn't have been enough to destroy your integrity, Shepard." Hackett took a few steps toward the door, and Shepard followed as best he could. "I'll do what I can to buy you some time to disband your team. Just know that when Earth calls you, you'd better show up with your dress blues on, ready to take that hit. In the meantime, you should keep this; I don't need some report to tell me you did the right thing today." Hackett passed him the data pad and gave him a nod of approval.

Shepard let out a small smile and did his best to salute him. "Yes sir."

"You've done a hell of a job, Shepard, never doubt that." With that, Hackett excused himself into the crowded mess hall and made his way toward the elevator. Shepard stood in silence; he felt a sharp pain in his chest that wasn't from his fractures. How could he tell his crew the news? He couldn't think about it now, he was going to sleep. It had been a long two days, and Shepard was exhausted.

finally returned after fetching his glass of water. She politely handed it to him, and he thanked her. He gulped it down like he hadn't had water in ages. He then raised his head to address EDI. "EDI, I'm going to bed, no disturbances please."

"Of course Shepard," EDI replied obediently.

Doctor Chakwas reproached him and handed him his pill bottle so that he could take them with him. Shepard walked toward the elevator but turned slightly to look for Kelly. He saw that she was eating breakfast with Gabby and Kenneth; he let out a low sigh and moved on. Telling her this would have to be the last thing on his agenda, not because he didn't want to, but because he had no idea what he could say to her. How could he tell the one woman in this whole galaxy; the only person that he valued more than life itself that he was leaving? That he may never see her again. He had to buy himself some time to think. _God damn it this is going to suck,_ he mused sadly as he rounded the corner.

Even though Shepard thought she didn't notice him, in actuality Kelly's eyes had never left him. She watched with sadness as he left the crew deck. She couldn't help but keep what Garrus said in the forefront of her mind. _He's gonna need his space to vent._ _He's gonna need his space to vent. _That horrible phrase rang through her ears like a swarm of angry hornets. Was Garrus right? Should Kelly just let Shepard have his breathing room, even though he's silently suffering right now? Kasumi did tell her all that matters is that she is there for him when he needs her. However, does that mean she should go looking for him? Kelly didn't know what to do, but she decided she couldn't think about it now. Andy has had a very rough day, like it or not, she had to at least respect his need for some privacy. Even though she would have killed to just be there with him, sharing his pain. The yeoman felt a stab of disappointment in her heart, and figured that she didn't have a choice either way.

_If being a good therapist has taught me anything, it's that you can't get a patient to talk if they don't want to. The best thing to do would be to just let his anima come out naturally. If I want to help alleviate his mental anxiety, then I can't just force a catharsis out of him. I need to be cautious with this; Andy may be suffering from an extreme cathexis relating to the Bahak system, or…to me. Although I don't want to force a confrontation on Andreas, he could end up detaching himself from my attempts entirely. God, listen to me, I sound like a robot. Andy's not just some name on a clipboard, he's my best friend. Although, I definitely think we left that stage of our relationship behind when I slept with him._

Kelly let out a satisfied grin at the thought. Kelly saw Gabby and Ken conversing. She was only barely listening, but from the sound of it they too were talking about Shepard. Kelly felt alone in the mess hall, despite the overwhelming amount of crewmen surrounding her. She looked down at the meager breakfast that she had served herself; a piece of dry toast, a small portion of egg, a single piece of bacon, and a cup of black coffee. Kelly figured she couldn't do anything about Andy right now, but she did at least take some solace in the fact that he was safe. Kelly gingerly lifted the piece of crisp bacon to her lips and consumed it hungrily.


	14. Chapter 14

Ch 13: Aftermath

_Cargo bay, Normandy SR1 _

_Yangtze, Voyager Cluster _

_Approximately two years pre-Bahak system incident _

Shepard emerged from the Normandy's elevator into the dark and expansive cargo bay. Wrex was close by; resting his towering figure on a crate near Shepard's left side. The large krogan was examining his claymore shotgun quizzically, but he briefly interrupted his activity to give a respectful nod to Shepard. Wrex had seriously changed his attitude towards Andreas, which was a surprise given the beast's earlier abrasive nature. Despite Wrex's hardened exterior, Andy could tell there was ferocity in the krogan's heart. Wrex was a creature of conviction, of heritage; even though he'd never admit it Shepard knew Wrex desperately wanted to help his people. The recovery of his family's battle armor only added more fuel to that assertion; Wrex was changed by that day. He grew a new respect for his lineage, his culture, his people, and maybe even Shepard.

Andreas gave him a smile and set foot onto the cargo bay's metallic tiling, each step echoing throughout the room. Shepard saw that Garrus was busying himself examining the Mako's targeting algorithms, so he felt it best to leave him to it. Ever since Shepard had helped the young turian find Doctor Saleon, the two had developed an amicable working relationship, maybe even friendship. Shepard found it completely strange that he would he would be friends with a Turian. Then again, Garrus wasn't like a typical Turian. Garrus was brash, impatient, and reckless when it came to getting his job done. Yet when it came to upholding the law, Shepard knew exactly where Garrus stood. The turian was an idealist, with the potential to be a great leader someday. It was Garrus' brash and impatient nature that held him back from greatness; until the C-Sec officer could understand that he would never be able to properly utilize his full potential. Anderson taught Shepard everything he knew on how to uphold the law without compromising who he was; now it was Shepard's turn to return the favor to a good man, Turian, whatever. Even though Shepard knew Garrus was a fully competent and capable member of his team, he knew Garrus was still green when it came to understanding that there's a fine line between black and white. No matter what, Shepard was going to make sure that Garrus understood that there is always a better way to uphold the law and that nothing is impossible.

Shepard could see that the Alliance requisitions officer was busy rearranging a few new weapons and he smiled lightly at the Commander, which Shepard returned before walking further into the cargo bay.

Then there was her, the brunette was holding an M-7 Avenger class assault rifle between her arms. She looked just as dangerous as she did beautiful, and Shepard felt his breath freeze in his lungs. He took a few steps closer to her; she was completely oblivious to his presence. Her dark brown hair was tied ever so tightly in a bun, with a few loose strands here and there that gave her just enough sex appeal, but not enough to seem unprofessional. Her fair skin was tanned slightly darker than Andreas' own; from where he was standing it looked smooth and absolutely flawless. She raised her weapon to eye level to examine its scope closely; even though this was not the first time the two had shared a conversation, he still found it hard not to fall into a trance when he looked at her. She had the most silken hazel eyes that twinkled with a slight mischievous glee whenever they spoke. Her eye lashes complemented them perfectly, long and curved; they formed a veil that made you want to explore every secret that those eyes held. Her cheek bones were slightly elevated to an angle, not high enough that they became distracting of course, but just enough to know she had them. She had a small beauty mark on the upper right side of her cheek, it was adorable and drove Shepard wild with desire. She also had some of the most natural pouty lips he had ever seen, they seemed to subtly tease him, trying to coax him into taking her if he wanted her. She was a strong, independent, no nonsense marine that could kick his ass any day of the week, yet she was feminine and kind enough that his heart melted with every conversation they shared. Shepard nervously cleared his throat and began to address the weapons chief flirtatiously.

"You know if the whole badass soldier thing doesn't work out, you can always try your luck as a model for Alliance recruitment ads. I know you'd definitely be able to kick a few people's asses into joining up." Shepard crossed his arms against his chest and smiled at her. As soon as she realized he was behind her, she let out a small smile and set her gun down gently onto the weapons bench. She let out a sexy laugh and turned to face her CO with a smirk.

"I bet you say that to all the Alliance women that know their way around an assault rifle," Ashley sarcastically mused. Andreas shook his head no and closed the distance between them to where they could both stare deep into each other's eyes.

"No, just the pretty ones," Andreas amended her and beamed happily. Ashley let out another intoxicating laugh and the Commander absorbed it happily. He could never get tired of her laugh, her smile, of pretty much anything that revolved around her. Unfortunately for the two not so secret love birds, Wrex didn't particularly care for all the flirtatious dialogue.

The large krogan released his shotgun and rested the piece against a low crate beside him. Wrex stood to address his turian compatriot across the room. "Turian," the large beast boomed authoritatively.

Garrus slightly turned his head to address the brute's booming voice. "What?"

"You've been glued to that hunk of scrap metal since we came back from Chasca, wanna find out if you can out drink a krogan?"

"So long as it's dextro-amino friendly, sure, just give me a few more minutes. I just wanna make sure the targeting algorithms in the Mako's cannons are calibrated for the next trip."

Wrex arched a brow at Garrus and huffed. "Good, hopefully this means that piece of crap will actually be able to hit something now."

"We can only hope so; it would definitely make our jobs a lot easier."

"Damn right it would. I'll be upstairs when you're ready, and who knows, you might actually end up having a little fun by accident."

"First time for everything," Garrus teased the large mercenary.

Wrex let out a booming laugh and strolled towards the elevator. As soon as the beast was clear both marines howled in laughter. Ashley reclined against her workstation and Andreas relaxed his posture.

"Guess he doesn't care much for our banter," Andreas happily asserted to Ashley.

"Guess not," She spoke between light chuckling.

"You think if I told Wrex that he looks cute when he's bathed in geth blood he'd feel better?" Shepard spoke through a tight lipped grin.

"Sad thing is I think he'd like it, but then I'd get jealous that some hunchback Krogan is stealing your attention from me."

"You would huh?"

She nodded happily and grasped him by the collar. "A little and I might have to do something desperate to get it back."

"Like what?" Andreas playfully responded. She leaned in closer and he in turn leaned in closer, she whispered playfully.

"Now that would be telling," She drew her face away from his ear and smiled wickedly.

Shepard felt more nervous now than he did during the blitz. He cleared his throat once again before continuing the flirtatious exchange. "You know Williams…" He stopped when he noticed her arch a brow at him.

"Williams? Why so formal Skipper, afraid your protégé might hear us?" Shepard stole a quick look over to Garrus; the turian's eyes were still currently glued to his data pad. Shepard shrugged and turned his attention back to Ashley.

"I wouldn't exactly call him my protégé per se, Williams. He's fully capable of handling himself on his own."

"Yeah, but he still hangs on your every word, Shepard. He looks at you like you know all the answers." She crossed her arms across her chest and gave him a playful leer.

"Is that how you see me too, Williams?"

The marine let out a huff of protest and waited for him to pick up on her signal. "Oh, I mean Ashley." The Commander finally realized that when it was just the two of them, she preferred him to call her by her first name. A little unprofessional, but then he hadn't intended to fall for the woman under his command.

"No, I just see a strong, confident, compassionate leader…with an amazing bod." Ash smiled proudly when she saw that she'd made him blush. Shepard rubbed the back of his neck embarrassingly, and gave her a smile in return.

"So did you just come down here to flirt, Commander? Or are you just checking up on your weaponry?" She reached for an empty carnifex pistol on her workbench in order to clean out the barrel.

"I came down here because I've been thinking about us lately…" Shepard's voice was slightly shaken by his nerves.

"Hey, I get it…we're Alliance, I know about the regs, Shepard. I wouldn't wanna get you canned just because I have a crush on you." Ash fiddled around with the empty pistol in order to hide her slight disappointment. Andreas' eyes widened in shock, he took her shoulder in his hand and spun her to face him.

"Ashley, I already told you, I don't care about the regs. I care about you, and you care about me, that should be all that matters." She blushed heavily and Shepard boldly took her hands in his. Shepard looked her dead in the eyes and smiled. "Ash, I…I really care about you. I came down here just so that I could ask, when this is over…and if we're both still in one piece. Maybe, you would…um, what I mean is."

_Damn nerves! Just ask her already, it's easy! _He silently scolded himself as he tried to fight the need to let out another nervous stutter.

"Maybe, you'd I don't know…wanna do an activity together? You know outside of the workplace?"

"An activity," Ash let out another short contented laugh at her boyfriend's awkward social stumbles. _Poor Skipper, you may know how to kill over a thousand Batarians. But when it comes to talking to a woman, forget it._

"Well, what I meant is maybe…that is if you don't want to visit family or anything maybe we could-" He was cut off when she placed a finger gently to his lips and gave him a calming hush.

"Who is wise, love most, say least." She smiled reassuringly at him.

"Tennyson, what piece is that one from again?"

"Merlin and Vivien, whenever my dad used to get in trouble with me, my mom, or my sisters, he used to say it a lot." Ash gave a slight shrug and Shepard gave her a wide grin.

"I get it; just the same I'd like to take you out somewhere nice, maybe for dinner up on the Presidium?" Andreas gave her an unsure shrug, while he quietly waited for her reply. She ran her finger along his chest and formed small circles on his right breast.

"I guess you'll do anything to get me in a tinfoil miniskirt, eh, Skipper?" Her eyes narrowed happily at him.

"Don't forget the thigh high boots." He smiled as a heavy crimson blush rolled over her cheeks.

"Andreas, I can't say that this isn't going to end with us getting our asses kicked. I mean, I know if anyone can bring that son of a bitch Saren to justice, it's you. But well, a pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist y'know?"

As he looked into Ashley's hazel eyes, the blue ambient lighting of the cargo bay reflected off of them making them shimmer like stars. "You're worried that we can't win this?"

"Don't get me wrong, Skip. After what that fucker did to my team and to those colonists on Eden Prime and Feros, I'll be damned if I'm just gonna let him walk away. It's just, how can you stop something that's been wiping out civilizations for over 50,000 years?"

"It doesn't matter what Saren thinks these Reaper things are. He's a psychopath, and no matter what his plan is it's going to fail. I'll make sure of it."

"I know you will. I guess…I guess I just wish I shared your confidence." Her eyes averted his and he could tell she was vulnerable.

For all her strength, all her bravado, she was still human and she needed him. He loved that about her most of all, how she could be this strong, brazen woman one minute. Yet, she could still be this sensitive and timid woman the next. He took her in his arms and held her tightly. She was embarrassed of course, yet she held him just as tight, as though she thought he would float away out of reality if she didn't. He wished that this moment would never end.

_Captain's quarters, Normandy SR2 _

_Sowilo, Hourglass Nebula _

_Twenty-four hours post Bahak System incident, 0945 hours._

_We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite-_

"Ashley," Shepard groggily asked as he felt the right side of his bed. His eyes slowly began to adjust to his surroundings. Andreas rubbed his eyes to alleviate the burning sensation in them. He then hoisted himself up to rest his right arm on his right knee, and he looked about the room with an unfamiliar gaze in his eyes. "Ash?" Andy called out but quickly sobered up when the reality hit him.

_Oh right, she's dead. It was only a dream, idiot. _He quietly thought to himself as he rotated his legs over the edge of the bed. Andreas stole a quick look at the clock. The holographic analogue numbers read a quarter to ten. He'd been out for almost twenty-four hours. Andreas let out a loud yawn and tried to lift himself off of the bed, but let out an ear splitting yell when all of what had happened yesterday hit him. _God damn it my ribs. Shit, how could I have forgotten about that!_

Shepard surrendered to the pain and fell back onto the bed in agony. He laid the back of his head against the cold bed sheets and stared up at the room's skylight. _I thought it was weird that I was still fully clothed. _He silently chastised his stupidity. Andreas had left his uniform on last night because the very act of trying to remove it almost made him pass out from the pain alone.

_C'mon pussy, Wipe those tears out of your eyes and get off lazy your ass, maggot! _Shepard could hear Gunny Ellison's gruff and gritty voice ring in his ears mockingly.

"Yes, sir," Shepard sardonically grumbled as he shifted in place. Andreas rotated his body weight to his left, and he used what strength he had to prop himself up on his left arm. As a next step, he then slowly positioned his right arm to where it was parallel with his left. After successfully not blacking out from the pain, Andreas let out a sigh of relief and brought each of his legs over the edge of the mattress. He sat with his legs resting over the edge of the bed, and Shepard let out several dry exhales to regain the amount of oxygen that was forced out earlier. _Well, so far so good. _Andreas placed both of his hands to the side of the bed and in one jarred motion; he lifted himself off of the mattress.

Shepard stood still while he gently adjusted his wrinkled uniform. _There, that wasn't too difficult. All it took was- _Shepard stole a look at the orange holographic clock that rested on his nightstand. The small analogue sticks read 10:05 a.m. and Shepard let out a short cough. –_Twenty minutes, yeah today is going to suck, and not just because of what I have to tell my team._ Andreas let out another cough before making his way towards the steps of his room.

Shepard made sure that his fish were fed; he made a motion for the small holo panel embedded in the wall, but he noticed that the fish had already been attended to. _Kelly must've fed them while I was asleep_. At least that was as near as he could figure, she always did take care of all the minor things for him. Andreas made his way up the small steps to the upper level of his room. Each step felt like a sharp blade that repeatedly jammed itself into his sides. Every move made him want to pass out, but he persevered-what he had to do was important after all.

Shepard looked to his desk and next to his private terminal. He noticed a mug of still warm coffee; it sat atop a folded, fresh, white towel next to a small box of soap. Upon further inspection, Andy also found another surprise beside the previous gifts, a small plate with toast hid playfully behind the towel. The pieces of wheat bread were still slightly warm. Shepard could smell the butter and jam from where he was standing; she'd even remembered to put his pain killers on the plate. It was definitely a pleasant enough surprise to wake up to, especially given his current condition. Andy couldn't help but smile at the thought of the amazing woman that patiently awaited him down stairs. Unfortunately, he also remembered what he had to do today. What he would have to say to her, which definitely wiped his contented smile from his face.

_I thought a good night sleep would help me think of something to tell her, but I feel just as clueless as I did yesterday. _He picked up the mug to inhale the fragrance of the coffee. It was some kind of spice, cinnamon maybe, not that Shepard was ever accurate with that sort of thing. He took a small sip of the creamy brown drink and the warm liquid cascaded down his esophagus. It was very relaxing and made his daily routine all the more enjoyable.

He typed a few keys into his terminal with the mug still in hand. There were two messages from Liara; she was still trying to get him to come over so they could talk about some Cerberus lead she'd recently discovered. The next message that drew his attention was from Anderson himself:

"Shepard,

Hackett told me everything. Contact me on the Citadel after you're done. You and I need to talk about what Hackett has planned for you. We can meet in docking bay 422; you remember which one that is, right? Keep safe.

Anderson"

Then there was a message from his mother Hannah, he noticed that the tag read _Who's Kelly? _and his face instantly became red. _Well Mom, hopefully when all this is over you'll get a chance to meet her. _Andreas mulled the thought over happily as he took another lengthy sip of the coffee. It was just the way he liked it, three creams and two sugars. _Damn you know me to a T, Red._ He never had a woman care this much about him before, and it was all he could do not to smile at the mere thought of Kelly.

Shepard spent the next thirty minutes scrubbing his face and neck with the much needed soap. He honestly smelled like he could use it, all the grime and gunk from that hellhole Arahtot and Kenson's base filled the sink with vile black suds.

_Ugh, I'd need a mining laser to scrub all this shit off me. _Andreas continued to wash every crevice along his neck and face in disgust. His skin was crusty and oily from all the blood, sweat, and dirt that came along with him from the planet. Finally, after rinsing off the last of the suds from his neck, he reached for the towel Kelly had left him and used it to dry himself off. Andy wrapped the towel around the back of his neck and caught the other end of it in his left hand. He let out a contented sigh and for a brief second he almost forgot the unbearable pain in his sides.

"EDI," Shepard raised his head to the cabin's ceiling to address the AI formally.

"Good morning, Commander, how may I assist you?" EDI responded in a surprisingly realistic genial tone. Andreas slowly raised his arms with the damp towel in hand to his hair, and engulfed his charcoal colored mop in the towel completely; in order to scrub away some of the residual dirt that still remained from the mission.

Once he was finished, Shepard continued nonchalantly. "EDI, could you send a message to my team? Tell them to assemble in the comm room; I'll be down there in a few minutes." EDI acknowledged his command and immediately sent the transmission throughout the ship. Shepard folded the towel quickly and evenly, before setting it back down onto his desk. Andy thanked EDI and proceeded into the elevator, it was going to be a busy day.


	15. Chapter 15

Ch 14 Wait, It Gets Worse

_Combat Information Center, Normandy SR2_

_Sowilo, Hourglass Nebula _

_Twenty-four hours post Bahak System incident, 1040 hours_

Kelly stood attentively at her terminal, even though she really didn't have that much to do these days. Since their mission was complete, the entire crew should have technically gone back to Cerberus HQ for a debriefing and reassignment. Not that she was important enough to be privileged with the location of Cerberus' HQ. More than likely it would have been Miranda or Jacob that escorted the surviving personnel back to base. Although she suspected that that wouldn't be happening any time soon, seeing as how everyone on the ship was now loyal to Shepard and not the Illusive Man.

She had slept surprisingly well, which was most likely due to the fact that Andy was finally back. It may have sounded silly, but Kelly couldn't help but feel a small degree of safety and security in just the thought of Shepard being within proximity. Still, Kelly did worry about him, she wondered if what had happened in the Bahak system would still be fresh in his mind. Or if he would even feel like talking at all, she was worried that he may have receded completely from his emotions. Even worse, he may have repressed them.

_Maybe he won't be so upset today; I did leave him some breakfast and some fresh linen in his room earlier. Who knows? Maybe he ate it; I hope he liked the coffee. I remember him saying that he likes it with three creams and two sugars, or was it two creams and three sugars? Oh god, I'm such an idiot. What if the coffee burned him, or what if he doesn't like preserves on his toast, damn it. _

Her panicked thoughts were interrupted when the elevator opened, and two heavyset footsteps sounded off behind her. Kelly didn't peel her attention away completely from her "work", she figured if it were Andy that he would say something. Not that that didn't stop Kelly from at least looking behind her with her peripheral vision, to see if it really was Andy who had just entered the CIC.

Andreas stepped a few inches out of the elevator and onto CIC. The galaxy map before him spun clockwise in a rhythmic and hypnotic fashion. Each one of its holographic segments blinked and flashed in a choreographed manner. Though he only was able to admire it for a brief second, since all his attention then made its way over to Kelly.

She stood erect and professional at her private terminal, busily typing away at the small holo panel in front of her. As hard as it was for him to believe, Kelly had actually managed to somehow grow even more stunning since he last saw her. Her hair was evenly composed; each strawberry colored lock was tucked tightly away in her usual hair style. Her uniform was sharp and crisp; with nary a wrinkle, crease, or imperfection to be seen. Even though military uniforms normally didn't lend much to the imagination, Shepard practically salivated at the sight of her. The uniform clung to her figure in ways that he never could've imagined; it seemed to only accentuate her curvaceous figure, especially in her narrow waist and ample bust line. Kelly lightly ran her hand along her face to replace a stray strand of hair back into place behind her ear; Andy couldn't help but wish he were that piece of hair. How he longed to feel her bare flesh against his own again. Her hand, her cheek, and hell, he'd have settled for just a small nudge with her forearm. So long as the contact was from her, he could die the most content man in this galaxy.

Shepard took a few tentative steps closer to her; he could feel his lungs constrict the air flow to his lungs out of nervousness. He licked his lips uncomfortably and tried to unsuccessfully steady his breathing. _C'mon, do it! Just walk up behind her, wrap your arms around her, and give her the biggest damn hug you can muster. Don't just stand here like an idiot, you love her, now get your lazy ass in there and show her! _Andreas was nervous as all hell, and the dead silence of the CIC wasn't helping the situation in the least.

_C'mon just say something! For God's sake he's right here, just waiting for you! Please Andy, just come over here, wrap your arms around me, tell me I'm yours, and hold me…hold me until time stops. I want to share in every bit of pain and suffering you're going through. Just come over here my white knight, let me remove your armor, and let me heal your wounds with whatever you need. _Kelly contemplated anxiously. She wanted to just turn around and hug the hell out of him, to stroke his hair, and whisper to him that everything will be all right.

Shepard was about to take another step closer to her, when he realized what he had asked EDI to do not five minutes ago. _God damn it! The crew meeting, shit, I almost forgot. Then I have that meeting with Liara, if anything new is happening with that bastard the Illusive Man I need to know. Unfortunately, my love you'll just have to wait. I want as much time alone with you as possible; no distractions, no interruptions, and no missions. Just you, me, and how we feel about each other. You deserve nothing less than that, Kelly._

Shepard made a sharp turn on his heel and broke his advance toward the young woman. He made his way reluctantly over to the armory's door and activated the emerald panel to enter the room. The doors to the weapons room opened with a hiss and Shepard paused slightly at the entrance before entering. He gave one last longing glance at Kelly, his beautiful angel. Andy's eyes focused on her unstirring posture. Kelly continued to diligently work at her terminal, as though she were completely unaware to his presence. Andreas let out a quiet sigh and returned his attention to the room before he disappeared behind the closing doors.

Kelly looked toward the armory's door as it slowly came to a close. She wanted to rush into the armory and follow him. She realized though that he was probably still emotionally fragile, if she put too much pressure on him he would most likely grow even more defensive. For now the yeoman just had to be patient, it wasn't like Andy was going anywhere anytime soon. Kelly closed her eyes solemnly. _Please, Andy, just talk to me. _She forced herself not to dwell on Andy's distant demeanor towards her any longer, and she continued to fictitiously work at her terminal.

The Commander strolled past Jacob Taylor and made his way over to the communications room. Taylor stopped his work to follow Shepard to the comm room. "Hey, Shepard, are you feeling any better?" The ebony skinned officer offered respectfully to his CO.

Shepard gave him a cursory smile and let out a quick, dry cough. "I'm doing well Jacob, thanks for asking. How about you? I heard Miranda and you didn't get much sleep while I was gone?" Shepard stood at the door to the comm room with Taylor at his side.

"Yeah, we kept busy all right. Mostly our time was spent trying to figure out a plan on how to rescue you, sir."

Shepard's hand rolled over the door panel, and it turned a lime green color to acknowledge Andreas' clearance. "So I've heard you made quite the competent leader. I always thought you had the potential to be more than just a yes man."

The doors to the room opened and the desk slowly rose from the floor. The mahogany conference table unfolded itself automatically and stretched out horizontally across the room. Shepard waited patiently to see if Jacob was going to enter the room before him. Taylor respectfully motioned for Andreas to go on ahead of him. Shepard gave a slight nod before entering the room, he slightly staggered over to the head of the table and he placed his hands squarely on its surface to support himself. Taylor approached the Commander's left side and folded his arms behind his back at ease. "Thanks, but to be honest I don't envy your job. Damn, it is definitely harder than it looks. I mean, keeping Jack and Miranda from tearing each other apart with their biotics, listening to every bit of criticism from the crew, making the final calls on those life or death situations. I honestly don't know how you do it." Jacob replied exhaustedly and Shepard gave him a smile of approval.

"If I make it look effortless, then I'm flattered Taylor." Shepard adjusted his posture and a loud audible pop emitted from his lower back. Shepard quickly brought his hand to his mouth and he wheezed lightly into it. Taylor had a concerned expression quickly glaze over him and he leaned in closer to the commander.

"You ok Shepard? Do you need me to take you to Chakwas?"

Shepard waved his hand dismissively at his friend's offer before continuing. "I'm all right; it's just a cough Jacob."

"But to answer your first question Taylor. Offering them an outlet for their aggression is always a good first step. Oh, and keeping 'em separated never hurts either. The listening part is definitely the easiest thing about my job. Every one of you has something valuable to bring to the table; I give you guys a voice because I've been there. I've had a CO that didn't take others opinions into consideration. That usually gets people killed. Taking in all of your opinions is how we achieve the impossible. After all that's how we kicked the Collectors' asses right? As for those life and death situation calls, I'll get back to you on that one. There never is a right call to make in those scenarios. Every choice you make in those kind of calls results in death. But that's just part of being a soldier, and you make the best call with what information you know. It's all we really can do."

"Yeah, I guess so."

The doors to the comm room opened, and Doctor Solus stepped in. He beamed at Shepard and approached him from the right. "Taylor, Shepard, good to see you. Trust that injuries healing well? Require ice pack, or perhaps a cane?"

"I feel fine, thank you Mordin. How are you?" Shepard returned his crewmate's smile and adjusted his posture to alleviate a sharp pain in his gut.

"Am well, thank you. Have been busying myself with new Shadow Broker ship designs. Believe I have eliminated space flight issue. Could improve with, hmm, wait, never mind. That would cause drive core engine overload. Forget I mentioned it. Back to drawing board, I suppose."

"Sure thing Doc," Shepard did his best to contain a small laugh. The next two crewmen to arrive were definitely welcome faces. Garrus and Tali approached him from his right side.

"Shepard you're all right!" Tali exclaimed joyfully and gave him a light above the waist hug. Garrus gave him a light pat on the shoulder and let out a grin.

"Guys, please, you act like this is the first time I've been hit by a rocket." Shepard lightly chuckled at his two friends.

"Sorry, we've all been worried about you. Are you ok?"

"I'm really fine Tali; honestly it's just a flesh wound."

Garrus crossed his arms and laughed lightly. "Glad to see your sense of humor wasn't damaged in the least, Shepard."

"You know me Garrus, I can fight like a Krogan and run like a leopard." Shepard let out a smirk.

"What the hell is a leopard?" Garrus' face became a question mark.

"It's a really fast animal from Earth."

"Ah," Garrus' brow rose in understanding and Tali laughed at the cultural misunderstanding, even though she had no idea what a leopard was either. Tali's light tittering soon made Shepard and Jacob crack up in unison at the turian's misunderstanding. The guffawing in the room was dropped immediately as soon as Miranda entered.

Shepard turned his attention to the door as soon as he heard her heeled boots tap against the tiling. Andreas gave her a small smile in acknowledgement of her presence. "Morning Ms. Lawson. How are you?"

Miranda strolled into the room and took her place beside Jacob's left side. She let her hands fall to her narrow waist and she addressed her CO. "Quite well thank you. Although, I believe that that particular query would best be directed to you. From what I've read in Chakwas' report you took quite a bit of punishment down there."

"A few broken ribs, I also left a lot more blood down there than I'd have liked. Other then that, I feel great." He gave her a nonchalant shrug and a wry grin.

Miranda shook her head in disbelief. "Really, Shepard, your bravado, while admirable, is unnecessary. You're only human, and you will need time to rest just like anyone else. If this meeting truly is necessary, then simply tell Jacob or me what this is in regards to, and you can return to your quarters so your bones can set."

Shepard shook his head "no" immediately and his face grew grave. "This is too important, Miranda, I need to do this. Besides, while I may not have enhanced genetics, I do have cybernetic implants, and those are just as good. I appreciate your concern regardless Miranda, thanks."

She nodded in understanding, if only out of respect for Shepard's judgment. In reality, Miranda definitely felt that it would have been far more reasonable for him to get a small recess from his duties. _What is so important that Shepard couldn't trust Jacob or me with such information? It must've been quite serious judging from his facial expression. I suppose if I want to know, I'll just have to wait for the rest of the crew. Shepard's never been a fan of keeping his crew in the dark, so I suspect once everyone is present, we can get this meeting underway._

Soon after Miranda entered, Shepard's team began to fill the room. Each of Shepard's fellow crewmen exchanged pleasantries with their wounded CO, aside from Grunt who tried giving him a head butt, which apparently was Krogan for: glad you didn't get your ass shot off_. _True to form, Jack was once again the last to arrive. She gave Shepard a malicious, crooked grin, before taking her place at the far end of the table. She turned her attention to the Commander's injuries and gave out a hearty laugh at his current state. The bruises on his neck, the bandages draped around his forearms, and his bloodshot eyes only added fuel her delight.

"Damn Shepard, you look like you got fucked up. Geez, don't you and Chambers have a safety word or something?"

Despite the crew's mortified expressions, Shepard actually lightly chucked at her vulgar comment. It's not like he didn't like Jack as a person, nor was Andy trying to keep his relationship with Kelly on the down low. _Leave it to Jack to bring Kelly into this. _Shepard mused with a crimson face. The woman gave him a smug look of contention, before relinquishing the room's attention back to him.

Shepard gave out a light cough to clear his throat before starting, and the room fell under a heavy silence. Each squad mates' attention was fully engaged on him, clinging to his every word. _Ok, here we go. _

"Thank you all for assembling on such short notice. I called this meeting to discuss what's happened over the past few days. If you have any questions, then I will answer them, but only after I'm done. As you all are no doubt aware, I went missing two days ago because of a solo mission in Batarian space. I was sent to that prison complex down on Arahtot to rescue an Alliance doctor named Kenson from the facility. But what none of us knew at the time was that she was indoctrinated, along with all of her staff." Shepard could see the sea of faces awash with shocked expressions.

"How did that happen?" Garrus motioned to Shepard with a concerned gaze in his gun metal blue eyes.

"Garrus let him finish," Miranda reprimanded the turian. Garrus gave her a glare, but Shepard raised his hand in order to quell their squabble before it began.

"Her team excavated a Reaper artifact from an asteroid out in the Bahak system. It forced Reaper visions into their minds. That's how they knew about the Reaper invasion. As a side effect the beam indoctrinated them. Although by the time I found out, her team overwhelmed me, and sedated me. That's why I was gone for two days." Shepard started to violently cough and he placed his right hand on the table to maintain his posture.

Mordin quickly approached him and readied his omni-tool in preparation to help him. Shepard waved his hand and gave Mordin a smile of appreciation when his fit passed. "I'm all right Mordin, thanks." The doctor nodded in understanding before returning to his spot.

"Anyway, when I came to, I had less than two hours to get the facility up and running. In the end I had to make a call; sacrifice the Bahak system, or let the Reapers bleed into the galaxy. I chose to activate the project to stop the Reapers, there wasn't any other option."

Jacob interrupted him with a brief question. "By slamming an asteroid into the mass relay, aren't they supposed to be indestructible?" Despite the fact that Shepard specifically told his team to save any questions till after he was done, Andy knew that this was going to be a collaborative meeting so he decided to indulge Jacob's query.

"Normally, they are, that asteroid I rammed into it was the size of a small planet. Other than that I can't think of anything that could damage a relay." Shepard let out another dry cough and quickly covered his mouth. "Sorry, anyway, after the project was up and running, I tried to send a warning to the Batarian colony, but Kenson cut the transmission. EDI said that only the Normandy was able to receive the transmission, and then that was only due to Tali and Kelly's diligent work. Thank you again Tali." The young quarian shifted bashfully in place and Garrus gave her a playful nudge in the arm.

"Unfortunately, since only the Normandy received the signal; that means that my actions caused the deaths of over 350,000 people. I called this meeting because I'm disbanding the team, effective immediately. As penance for all the Batarian lives I ended, I'm turning myself over to the Alliance. I'm going to trial for my crimes, which will hopefully keep the Batarians from declaring war against the Alliance. Admiral Hackett bought me some time with the Alliance parliament; he's going to give me enough time to get you guys as far away from me as possible." Shepard took a moment to pause for breath and saw his crew was dead silent. The stillness of the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife. "Throughout this journey, I've asked you all to follow me into hell with no guarantees of return. I've asked for you to accept my judgments and decisions without question or hesitation. Each and every one of you was willing to give your lives for a fight that wasn't your own. Now I'm asking you to follow my command one last time. Each one of you has become more than just my crew; you've been my brothers and sisters in arms, my allies, my friends. What each one of you has given to me is a gift of such immeasurable value that it can never be repaid. You've given me your trust, your loyalty, and your hope. I cannot, and will not allow all the sacrifices that you all have made for me amount to nothing. I made the call; this was my crime, my mistake, and no one else's. I will not let my team, my friends, burn because of my failings. The Normandy will escort you wherever you desire, I'll be meeting with each and every one of you individually later to get your selected destinations. If anyone has anything to say, now would be the time."

The room was as quiet as a graveyard. No one could believe what they were hearing. After all the hell they had been through Shepard was just abandoning them. Suddenly, a gruff throaty noise came from the veteran warlord Zaeed, and he adjusted his posture toward the commander. "Ok, seeing as how everyone's balls have suddenly dropped off, I guess I'm gonna have to be the one to say this…Shepard THAT IS THE BIGGEST load of bullshit I have ever heard."

The whole room faced the grim faced warlord; even Shepard joined in the sea of shocked faces. He had never expected this kind of outburst, least of all from Zaeed. Jack let out a short chuckle and reclined against the wall at the back of the room. "Well look who's finally found a pair. What's the matter Gramps, they shrivel up so bad you couldn't find 'em without a magnifying glass?"

Zaeed gave her a wicked grin soon followed by a condescending laugh. "I figured somebody had to say something seeing as how your girlballs have managed to magically crawl up into your throat." Jack flipped him off and laughed off his comment.

"Love you too, asshole."

Shepard cleared his throat and pointed his hand questionably at Massani. "I'm surprised to hear you object, Zaeed, weren't you just in this whole thing for the paycheck?"

Shepard actually thought he saw the mercenary grow offended by his accusation. Zaeed began to move about the room in a calm manner, as one might have done during a presentation. "Well ordinarily, yeah, you'd be right; I would've gladly taken my pay, flipped ya off, and have been gone before you could even blink. But I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and if what you've been saying is true. If those Collector bastards were just pawns of those things, what'd ya call 'em again, Shepard, Reapers, right?" Shepard gave him a solemn nod and Zaeed continued. "And if those Reaper pricks are planning on wiping out all life as we know it, then credits aren't gonna mean shit anymore. Those Reaper fuck-sticks think that they can screw with us, well I say they got another thing coming." Zaeed stared him down in an unyielding manner.

Shepard was impressed to say the least. Especially considering not a few months ago, Zaeed felt it necessary to facilitate his views from gunpoint. Still, Shepard was deeply awed by the veteran's devotion to his leadership. However this did not change the facts, those people in the Bahak system were still dead because of him, and he needed to own up to that. Shepard coughed lightly and crossed his arms in an authoritative manner.

"While I appreciate your stance in support of me, Zaeed, I'm afraid this is the only option at our disposal right now."

The mercenary let out a gruff breath in disgust and returned to his position.

Jack shrugged her shoulders derisively at the Commander's comment. "So you killed a few thousand squints, who gives a shit? I killed an entire space station filled with those ugly bastards; you don't see me weeping over it."

Tali interjected into the comment and addressed Jack personally. "So what? You want Shepard to just be another criminal, someone who kills without mercy or a conscience?"

"Welcome to reality bucket brain," Jack rolled her eyes in disgust at the young quarian's altruistic ideals. "Tell ya what kid, you feel so bad for those ugly assholes? Why don't you head over to Kar'Shan and tell 'em how sorry you are over their plight. Fifty creds say you won't even make it to the surface before they either shoot you down or enslave you. Do you think those Batarian bastards would've hesitated were they the ones with the gun? If it was a human colony, you can bet your ass that they would've done it with a smile on their faces. And since I don't see Shepard smiling about this, I assume he feels shitty enough about this as is. So going to trial for something that was necessary is just stupid."

"Tell me, Jack, do you believe that the loss of life is wrong? Are those colonists' lives any less of value than your own, simply for the fact that the Batarians are a part of a government whose doctrine you do not align with?" Samara calmly forwarded to the heated woman.

"Well, I suppose I'd feel worse if I knew those bastards weren't already planning on killing Shepard at the first chance they get. Fortunately, since they're all such blood thirsty jackasses, I don't really see it as something to pity. In all honesty, Shepard probably did 'em a solid. A quick death is a hell of a lot better than a prolonged execution at the hand of those Reaper shits."

"I agree with Jack, who gives a crap about those Batarians? A Krogan would gladly die a warrior's death, sacrificed for the good of all. Why be soft about what was necessary?" Grunt pointed one of his large armored fingers at Shepard.

Garrus planted his hands squarely on the conference table and addressed the young warrior directly. "You're missing the point, Grunt. Shepard's saying that this needs to happen in order for everyone to focus on the real threat. If the Alliance gets dragged into a war now, then both sides are gonna be easy prey for the Reapers."

Kasumi raised her hand and interrupted Garrus' conversation with Grunt. "Hold on a minute, Garrus, if that's true, then why is Shepard turning himself in? I mean, if the Commander's really doing this to avoid a war, then how is he going to be able to help anyone from behind bars when the Reapers do show up?"

"It is the larger principal, . Shepard is honoring his own code. In the short time that I have had to work with him he has not once acted without fear of consequence. I believe the Commander is doing this to prove that he is not above the law, and that he too is bound by societal justice." Samara stated.

"Exactly, the whole reason Shepard was inducted as a spectre to begin with is because of Saren. Saren was a rogue spectre; he chose to do whatever he pleased and abused his power. If Shepard doesn't at least acknowledge what he's done, then how is he any better than Saren?" Tali added in support of Samara's claim.

Miranda shook her head "no" and crossed her arms in disagreement. "Saren was a lunatic; he believed appeasing the Reapers was the only way to save the galaxy. He was a coward. Whose sole motivation was to protect his interests. What Shepard is doing is simply throwing himself on the sword to save face for an uptight government, one that would sell him out at the first chance they got. Shepard, if you feel guilty about what has occurred, very well, but don't pretend that this is somehow an error in judgment or some other bloody magnanimous ideal. This was a indispensable action that had you not done, would have led to even greater bloodshed an-"

"Enough," Shepard barked, and the room turned their full attention to him immediately. Even though he was usually an easy going individual, this matter was too grave to simply cast aside. "Look, I don't care if any of you agree with my decision or not. This is my call, and this is my ship. What I say goes, and if you don't like it, tough. Now I'm going to disband the team, you can go anywhere you want so long as it isn't here. That's all I'll hear on the issue, crew, dismissed." Shepard folded his arms professionally and stood at attention.

Jack stormed out of the room in a huff and muttered something about Shepard being a pussy. The rest of the crew soon followed suit, until finally the only crew members that remained behind were Garrus and Tali. _I knew you guys weren't going to make this easy on me._

Shepard stood as still as stone while his two friends approached him. He let out a quiet sigh and waited for one of them to break the tension.

"So…" Tali started to mutter before Garrus followed her lead.

"That went well, any other bad news, Shepard?" Garrus lightly brushed his chin between his hand's three fingers. Andy let out an exhausted sigh and turned his attention to his teammates.

"Guys, I…I didn't mean what I said about this being my ship, my rules. I just, don't know what else to do. If I do this, then it's just going to be asinine because when the Reapers do show up, I'm gonna need all of you guys again anyway. While, if I don't do this-"

"-Then the Alliance and the Batarians declare open war against each other and both groups blow each other to hell. That's a tough call, Shepard." Garrus interrupted him.

"You guys think I'm making the right call?" Shepard sat on the table and adjusted his attention to the duo.

"Well I seem to recall this soldier; you've probably met him before. Nice guy…got along with his crew, always tried to find the best way through not just the fastest. Anyway, this soldier I know decides to steal this Alliance vessel and take it all the way to this planet in the Terminus Systems called Illos." Shepard rolled his eyes at Garrus, Tali was too busy chuckling at the story to say anything. "So now this soldier knows stealing an Alliance vessel is a capital offense. I mean those Alliance guys would've court marshaled him if they found out he was stealing this ship from them. And do you know what he did?"

Shepard let out a light snicker alongside Tali's. "I don't know, Garrus, what'd he do?"

"He stole the ship anyway. That man did what he thought was right, and as a result he saved the galaxy. With a little help from his handsome and talented companions of course."

"Of course," Shepard grinned.

"We've been here before Shepard, and even though things look like crap right now, they'll get better." Garrus spoke candidly.

"How can you be so sure of that, Garrus?" Andreas forwarded curiously.

"Because it's you, Shepard, and you always find a way." The turian proudly proclaimed and Tali nodded in agreement.

"Pretty much…besides when have you ever been wrong, Shepard?" The young quarian proudly proclaimed.

"Thank you guys; I appreciate your faith in me." Shepard gave them a relieved smile.

"Well the law of averages says that somebody had to." Garrus teased.

"So do you guys have any spots picked out yet?" Andreas inquired to his friends.

"We can talk about that later, Shepard; right now you should probably get some rest. It can't be easy walking around with broken ribs." Garrus took a few steps back and headed for the doorway.

Tali placed her hands to her hips. "That would definitely work out better for him. I bet you must be in excruciating pain right now, Shepard."

Garrus and Tali made their way out of the room, leaving him alone with only his thoughts to occupy him.

_Well, that went about as well as I expected. Still, glad that that's one less distraction I have to worry about. _Shepard adjusted his pose to the look up to the ceiling.

"EDI, Tell the shuttle pilot to prep a Kodiak. I'll be down there in a few minutes."

The AI's synthesized voice filled the room with her usual listless voice. "Of course, Shepard, do you have a destination selected?"

"Hagalaz, I'm going to see Liara." Shepard began his march toward the com room's entrance and opened the door.

**~O~**

_Combat Information Center, Normandy SR2, _

_Sowilo, Hourglass Nebula, _

_Twenty-four hours post Bahak System incident, 1205 hours._

Kelly ran her index finger along one of the strands of her strawberry colored locks and toyed with the stray piece of hair thoughtfully. It was a dumb nervous habit that she contracted back in grade school, as if somehow toying with her hair were a way of relieving tension. So far Andy's meeting had been running for an hour and a half. Whatever he was discussing with the crew must've been important. She continued to examine Shepard's private messages terminal for any new messages; Kelly figured she may as well at least pretend to work.

Shepard had received another message from Doctor T'Soni; she was still requesting an immediate visit to discuss important Cerberus matters. Kelly had no idea what that could mean, since the message held little information aside from the consultation request. Maybe the Illusive Man was hunting after his missing crew and property, even worse he could've been after Andy. Kelly shivered at the thought, but her fear quickly turned to rage.

_How dare the Illusive Man, after all the good Andy has done, after all the hell that poor man has been through. To turn around and stab him in the back like that. Andy deserves better than that, to think I actually believed in what Cerberus stood for. God, I was such a fool. Well, I'll be damned if I'm going to let the Illusive Man get to Andy. If they want Shepard, they'll have to kill me first, even though Andy would probably keep me from doing something so bold. He just has to be so amazingly chivalrous._ She let out an infatuated sigh at the thought of her love. Kelly never had someone in her life that cared that much about her before, aside from her mom and sisters. Though that wasn't an entirely fair comparison for her to make, the kind of compassion Andy showed her was hardly the kind of family love she was used to. He loved everything about her, or at least she thought he did. Andreas was always willing to check on her, to listen to her, to comfort her. Every second she spent with Andy was a beautiful dream, a dream that she wished never had to end.

The sudden opening of the armory's door roused her from her sentimental musings. Shepard's teammates were gathering around the elevator by her, each one with a sour look of discontent on their faces. Jack, Grunt, and Zaeed entered the elevator first, leaving Thane, Kasumi, Miranda, Samara and Legion behind in silence. The silence was the strangest part of the whole thing. It wasn't the usual kind of silence that came with not having anything to say to one another. This silence was heavy with frustration, confusion, and irritation. Even her friend Kasumi didn't seem her usual perky self. They all had an expression on their faces vaguely reminiscent of something that one might've seen at a funeral.

_What did Andy say to them? _She wondered with an unsettling concern.

The elevator returned and its doors opened, allowing Miranda, Thane, Samara, Kasumi and Legion to head back to the crew deck. The armory's entrance opened once again, revealing Garrus and Tali. Kelly gave him a small wave, and the turian's face grew solemn. She tried to talk to him, but the elevator had already returned and they were gone.

Andy stepped onto the CIC after a few minutes, and he made eye contact with Kelly. Her lips were pursed in confusion, and her face was a question mark. She wondered what he had said to the crew. Shepard walked a few steps closer to her, and he could hear his heart beat drum in his ears. _Talk to her, talk to her._

_Talk to me, talk to me. _Kelly gave him one of the most beautiful smiles that he had ever seen. It was so luminous and comforting that he forgot all the pain and agony that he was in from his injuries. Time slowed as he inched closer to her, but just when he was about to speak, EDI handed him an unfortunate reality check.

"Shepard, the shuttle pilot is ready to depart whenever you are. I have already plotted a safe course that will guarantee the least amount of electrical disturbances upon entry."

Shepard sighed in defeat, and Kelly returned to her post, though her eyes were still fixated on him. Judging by the facial expressions she was seeing, he really did not want to go without talking to her.

"Thank you, EDI," Shepard replied annoyingly. He then shifted his direction towards the elevator. Andy gave one last, long, look at Kelly. Her lips silently mouthed the words "It's ok, go, I'll be here when you get back." She gave him one last refreshing smile, and he in turn consumed it happily.

_God Red, I love you. _Shepard entered the elevator and raised his hand in preparation to activate the panel inside. Kelly had long since turned her attention away from him; even still Shepard hesitated to leave. _Just tell her something, you haven't spoken to her in days. It doesn't matter what, just say something! _

"Kelly." Andreas spoke softly to her.

Her attention bolted towards the elevator and her sparkling emerald eyes met his tired azure eyes. "Thank you for breakfast." He gave her a smile that made Kelly weak in the knees. Those four simple words melted away all the fear, worry, and doubt from both their hearts. Kelly exchanged one last revitalizing gaze as the doors closed on him.

"You're welcome," she whispered brightly and returned to her work with a new found vitality.


	16. Chapter 16

Ch 15 Old Friends New Problems

_Shadow Broker Base, Hagalaz_

_Sowilo, Hourglass Nebula _

_Twenty-four hours post Bahak System incident, 1312 h._

Shepard exited the narrow decontamination chamber into an even narrower hallway. Smoke and steam surrounded him, as the decontaminator's antiseptic gas bled from the small entryway. The pathway to Liara's office was long and curved, with several sets of stairs which made him groan in frustration.

_I don't remember all these damn stairs the last time I was here. Of course, the last time I was here, I didn't have four injured ribs at the time_. Andreas had to fight his urges to just collapse from all the ravaging pain in his sides. He proceeded up a few more flights of steps before he made it to the end of the entryway.

Shepard passed a few of Liara's mercs clad in their signature black and white armor; they gave him a quick cursory glance and let him be. Even though this was not his first visit, he still found it strange to pass the mercs by in the halls like that. Shepard couldn't help but remember the legions of soldiers that he and Liara killed when they sized control of this place.

Shepard strolled through another doorway leading into a large winding hallway with yet more stairs. _I really wish I could fly right about now, _he unhappily mused as he forced himself up each individual step. The base's artificial lighting was dull and dingy from the age of the enormous vessel. Along the walls, Andy could hear the subtle beeping noises from several data terminals and screens. Each of the monitors composed a chorus of different pitches while their screens erupted in long lines of text and data.

Shepard ran his eyes along the ceiling; the large pipes and wires seemed to act as a compass that led him to Liara's main office. In the distance he could hear two mercenaries holding a conversation about what their plans were for the weekend.

"So, Jackson, are you planning on seeing that new Blasto vid? I hear it earned…like $160,877,295 credits so far." The merc's voice melded with the static and voice alterations in his helmet's software. His partner typed away at his orange holo terminal for a few more minutes before turning his attention to his partner.

"Uh I don't know, Harrison. Lee said that the ending sucked." Jackson gave an unsure shrug toward his compatriot.

"Lee hates every new vid, I'm telling ya that movie's gonna be-"

The merc stopped his rebuttal when they saw the Commander walk up the steps toward the desk. He raised his M-99 Saber slightly as a sign for Shepard to halt.

"That's close enough," the merc spoke coldly. He motioned with his rifle to Shepard. "Who are you, why are you in here?"

Andreas let out a huff of protest and crossed his arms defiantly. "Commander Shepard, I'm here to see your boss."

Harrison lowered his rifle in hesitation at the mention of the name. His partner Jackson briefly stopped typing at his console to glance over at the armed merc. Jackson gave him an unsure shrug. "What do we do?"

"Hang on, I'll contact Agent Feron, he knows the authorized personnel better than I do." The mercenary raised his left forearm and activated his omni-tool's radio. "Agent Feron, sir," the mercenary spoke earnestly into his holographic greave.

There was an extended silence on Feron's end before he finally picked up. "What is it, Harrison? I'm a little busy," Feron replied hurriedly.

"Agent Feron, sir, Commander Shepard is here. He's asking to see the Broker. Should I authorize him?"

Another long period of silence before Feron responded to the soldier's inquiry. "Let him through Harrison, and for future reference…Shepard is always authorized." The radio soon went dead as Feron signed off.

"Right, sorry sir," the mercenary lowered his rifle submissively and gave a nod to the commander. "Sorry, about the delay, Commander, go on through."

Shepard gave a stern nod and bypassed them towards the door behind the desk. He could hear them resume their previous conversation before the doors behind him closed. One final hallway separated him from his destination, which was a good thing since his breathing was becoming increasingly shorter and ragged. Stairs were definitely proving to be his greatest enemy right now.

After an exhausting five minutes of struggled limping Andy finally made it to Liara's office door. He raised the arm that was previously gripping his injured abdomen and used it to activate the panel on the door. The green control interface let out several beeps, then disintegrated as the door opened. A tiny luminescent orb of light floated toward him, and its synthesized voice floated through the air.

"Commander Shepard, it is a pleasure to see you again." The small orb danced away and made several mid-air twirls as it moved further into the room. Shepard saw the improvements that the repair drones had made to Liara's office in just the few weeks since he had last visited. Two of the columns that had been previously destroyed in the battle with the Broker had now been rebuilt from the ground up. There were two other columns that were still in need of a bit more work, but the synthetics toiled quickly and diligently to repair it.

Andreas folded his arms across his chest and smiled at the small drone. "What, no Shadow Broker this time?"

The small drone's inner cores rotated clock-wise and then counter clock-wise to signify that it was assimilating the new information. "Doctor T'soni felt that my personality interface was interfering with Agent Feron's ability to work. Upon further inspection, I found that Agent Feron's abilities were in fact hindered by a dip in efficiency of approximately 15.8%. Doctor T'soni felt that a change in my interaction programs would prevent further agitation of Agent Feron."

"So I see," Shepard took his eyes off of the small drone and turned his attention towards the office's large vid screen. Liara was multitasking between typing on a console in front of her, and rotating a few holographic displays that emerged from the screen. She was completely oblivious to his presence, typical Liara, sometimes Shepard wondered if even a Reaper could tear her away from her work. The young woman ran her gloved fingers along another new holographic bulletin, while also dividing half her focus to a small data pad by her right side. The small glittering particles of pale sapphire colored light emitting from the terminal danced around her finger tips while she worked. This perfectly complemented the asari's robin's egg blue hue of her smooth flesh.

"Is she busy? I can come back later if this is a bad time."

The small VI glided across the room toward a group of smaller repair units and dispersed them to different areas of the room. "Doctor T'Soni is simply correlating the recent influx of mission and intel logs forwarded by agents Rhu, Zorin, and Ferino. They are currently on special assignment per Doctor T'Soni's orders." That last "Doctor T'Soni" proved just enough to shake Liara from her duties. She turned her head slightly to her left to acknowledge her new visitor. The asari tried her best to contain a small smile that tugged at her lips. Shepard gave her a wide grin and stepped past the small drone; she in turn put a pause to her work to approach her friend.

"Glyph, please keep an eye on the traffic for me. Please alert me the minute there are any fluctuations in the amount of aggregate traffic around the monitored systems."

"Of course, Doctor T'Soni, will you be requiring any updates on field agents Brenson, Uzilk, or Charen?" The drone asked obediently.

Liara kindly shook her head 'no' and genially replied, "No, thank you, that will be all, Glyph."

The drone departed toward the large vid screen and started its assigned task with a stern diligence. Liara approached Shepard and stood arms length away from him, still smiling at his return. She cleared her throat professionally and formally extended a hand as a greeting. "Shepard, it is good to see you again." Liara addressed him almost artificially.

Shepard looked shocked and he shrugged happily at Liara. "Come on, Liara."

She blushed slightly before taking a few tentative steps towards him. Liara embraced him in a tight hug around his broad, sculpted shoulders. He kept his hands inside of his pockets and let his friend express her affections for him. "Thank the Goddess that you remain unharmed, Shepard. I had feared the worst when I didn't receive a message from you."

Liara released her captive from her grasp and beamed with relief at Shepard's return from his dangerous mission.

"Worried you and Feron were going to have to recover my body again and take me to another ultra secretive black ops organization to be rebuilt?" Shepard teased his friend cheerily.

"I should hope not, the first time proved difficult enough. Even then, I think Cerberus performed a miracle when they brought you back. It would be extremely unlikely that they could repeat such a feat." Liara motioned for him to follow her and she proceeded across the room with Shepard at her heels.

"I appreciate the welcoming committee, Liara." Shepard spoke with a slightly annoyed undertone to his smooth voice.

"Sorry…new guards, I had to hire and recruit several hundred new soldiers after our little… hostile takeover."

"I'd only be upset if they fired."

"I appreciate such a generous attitude." She smiled at him and waited patiently for Andreas to catch up to her.

Liara stopped short of her private terminal with Glyph at her side, the tiny drone shifted to her right to prevent obstructing her access. Shepard hobbled a few more feet before almost slipping, fortunately, Liara managed to catch him swiftly with her biotics. It was a strange feeling to be on this end of his friend's abilities, there was a strange static feeling that made the hairs on his arms rise. His sides felt slightly better as the small surges of energy pulsed through his body. She was using the utmost care to gently raise her friend back to an erect posture. Liara made her way over to him and took his arm over her shoulder, placing her free arm around his waist.

"I'm sorry Shepard; I completely forgot about your recent injuries." The young asari offered to her friend.

"You already knew?" Shepard adjusted himself and both parties heard his back bones pop. He raised his hand to convey to Liara that he was fit enough to move on his own, and she reluctantly released him.

"I read Doctor Chakwas' medical report," Liara admitted embarrassingly and made her way a few feet towards the terminal.

"How? She only filed that report in her computer yesterday." Shepard made his way cautiously over to her before settling at her left side. Liara let out a small smile out of modesty. He could see her cheeks flush with a deeper azure tone.

"Oh, right, you're a very good information broker." Andy chuckled lightly and rolled his eyes at forgetting about that fact. Especially considering everything Liara has been able to accomplish with her intel alone. Hell, Shepard wouldn't be surprised if she already knew what the Illusive Man's real name was. Liara always was ten steps ahead of everyone, especially now. After all, if it had not been for her, he never would've stopped Saren all those years ago. She was the only one who knew about Illos, the Protheans, even the Cipher.

Liara closed her eyes bashfully and smirked at him. "Actually, a friend of yours has been updating me on all that's been happening lately."

Andreas' face became a question mark at her statement and she turned her head slightly to face him. "Do you mean Garrus…Tali?" He forwarded curiously.

Liara shook her head, with her grin still not fading from her pleasant face. Suddenly, Andy's cheeks flushed a bright ruby red at the sudden realization of who she'd been talking to. _Oh, Red, you didn't._

"You've been talking to my yeoman haven't you?" He smiled at her, still embarrassingly a bright crimson color.

Liara nodded and typed at her terminal to bring up the yeoman's messages to her. "I contacted you late yesterday afternoon when my surveillance equipment detected the Normandy's LADAR signatures. No one was answering my messages, so I kept calling. Finally, Yeoman Chambers or Kelly, if you prefer, contacted me through your private terminal."

"She did," Shepard placed his left hand on her console's dash board and rested his weight on it, while he listened intently to his friend's explanation.

"Yes, she told me about Arahtot and your recent injuries. She then asked Chakwas to forward her report to me at around two yesterday afternoon. Kelly said that you were resting and that as soon as you were able, you would contact me."

Shepard let out a small huff of amusement and smiled lightly at her. "Well, I guess Kelly was right, huh?" He crossed his arms over his chest. _Thanks, Kelly. You always take care of all those little things for me, Babe._

"Are you all right, Shepard?" Liara forwarded with the utmost sincerity.

"I have a few scrapes, some cuts, and a couple of bruises. Oh, and about four broken ribs. It's not any different from when I used to date Ash." Liara laughed lightly at Andy's joke and she rolled her eyes in protest.

"Must you always mask your injuries with humor?" The asari cocked a brow at Andy. He placed his hands in his pockets and proudly smiled.

"Laughter is the best medicine, Liara." Her lips pursed and her brows knit together.

"I thought that medi-gel was the best medicinal supplement by human standards?" She looked to him for confirmation.

Andy's brows raised in understanding of his interspecies faux pas. "Oh, sorry Liara, that was-"

"Another joke, Goddess, you think I would be better at catching them by now." Liara laughed lightly at the situation.

"So…about these Cerberus leads you've been digging up, Liara." Andy crept a few inches closer towards her to examine her terminal.

"Oh, yes! Forgive me for getting side tracked. Please, come." Liara motioned with her free hand for Shepard to move in even closer to her. Liara typed furiously with her right hand and brought up several sets of data on the large screen before them. Shepard stood in wonder at all the information that he was seeing, virtual walls of letters and numbers scrolled in unison before him. There was so much information to digest that Shepard barely even managed to scan a fifth of all of it, before Liara interrupted his thoughts.

"Here it is," She proclaimed. The lines of texts slowly became one uniform, composed picture.

"How do you do it, Liara?" Andreas lightly spoke with a deep admiration of his friend's talent.

"Do what?" Liara moved a few dozen screens while slightly looking at him. He scratched the back of his head, overwhelmed at how effortless she made her work look.

"You know. How do you read all this data? How do you manage to assimilate all this information so quickly and effortlessly? Don't you ever get overwhelmed by the sheer amount?"

Liara continued to pull up her desired intel, but Shepard could tell that she was considering his inquiry. Liara licked her upper lip in contemplation; she took a few minutes to mull the question over. After a few minutes she just smiled and almost nonchalantly answered. "I have never given much thought into it I suppose. Analyzing and processing new information just comes naturally to me. It is just like breathing, really, all I need to do is lightly glaze over any new data and I can recite it verbatim. I suppose I am-what is that charming, human word, a uh…nerd?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it charming, Liara. It's more of an insult than anything else."

"It is insulting in human culture to be an intelligent, studious individual?" She seemed almost shocked at that revelation. Shepard shook his head 'no' and shrugged lightly.

"Not exactly, usually nerds are weird and a bit recluse in their existence."

"And I am not?"

"Nah, you're a social butterfly."

"Social butterfly?" it now seemed that Shepard had lost Liara even more than before. He placed his right hand to his chin, clasping it between his index finger and thumb.

"Someone who derives pleasure from the company of others," Shepard replied candidly to alleviate her confusion. She raised her brows in silent understanding and continued to formulate her findings.

"That seems an even more far fetched notion than my own assertion; I would hardly say that I am naturally social. Do you recall how timid and cloistered I was when we first met?"

"Yeah, but I was a stranger back then. Also, we really didn't get a chance to formally meet until after you came on board the Normandy."

Liara smiled and returned her attention to her work. "True, but I knew from the moment I met you that I could trust you."

"How?" Shepard politely inquired as he watched her string together all the data into one cohesive package.

"For starters, your weapons were not pointed at me," Liara said with a large smirk.

"Was that a joke, from you?" Andreas happily asserted.

"I suppose your personality is rubbing off on me."

"I suppose it is," Shepard proudly proclaimed.

"In any rate, here is the data that I have found thus far. I'm sure that it will prove interesting to say the least." Liara grabbed a data pad from her console and presented it to Shepard so he could follow along.

"What're we looking at, Liara?" Shepard scrolled the data pad's screen with his index finger; his eyes were glued to the small screen. The data mainly consisted of numbers and percentages but it may as well been in another language, he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"Glyph first forwarded this intel to me while you were still out hunting the Collectors. A particular point of interest that caught my attention, a name listed in the recent obituaries on Omega."

"Not to dismiss anything Liara, but scores of people die on Omega every day. What's so significant about one individual?" Shepard asked curiously.

"Take a look at the names that Glyph was able to recover from Aria's personal files."

"How'd you…never mind." Shepard withdrew when he remembered how good Liara was at obtaining information.

"One of my agents, he has a cover as one of Aria's personal enforcers." Liara motioned to him. He nodded in compliance and scrolled further down the list, until he too saw the name that Liara was referencing, Liselle T'Loak.

"T'Loak, as in Aria T'Loak," Shepard responded. To say Shepard was shocked would have been a gross understatement. He was stunned, not only did Aria have a daughter, but her daughter had been murdered not too long ago. _I guess someone didn't get the memo about Omega's number one rule._

"Does it say who murdered her, Liara?"

Liara placed a hand to her chin and retorted immediately. "Unfortunately no, whomever was responsible for this definitely knew how to cover their tracks. All security footage was scrubbed clean, all witnesses were eliminated, and no evidence was left behind, except for a bloodied kitchen knife."

"So, what makes you think this was a move by Cerberus? I doubt the Illusive Man is desperate, or stupid enough to start a war with Aria." Andreas was beginning to wonder if maybe this was all just coincidence.

Liara shook her head 'no' and pulled up a new vid screen. She moved her index and thumb outward to enlarge the picture, before sliding the hologram over to Shepard. The new holo was apparently of a man, mid thirties from the looks of him. He had dark auburn hair with a clean shaven face; his cheek bones were well defined and he had piercing brown eyes. The tag underneath the photo claimed that the man was someone called Paul Grayson.

"Who's this?" Shepard asked her perplexedly while he drew the photo closer to examine it. Liara brought up her omni-tool and began a background search on Grayson. After a few seconds of searching she found a dossier on the man.

"Paul Grayson, he was formerly one of Aria's enforcers. According to data recovered from Aria's private files, she believed Grayson was Liselle's killer. As for Paul Grayson himself, he is a former Cerberus agent and an avid user of the drug 'red sand'. His age is 35, current location is unknown; he was last seen on Grissom Academy a few weeks ago. Current Status: deceased, killed on board Grissom Academy six weeks ago."

"Killed, by whom?" Shepard scrolled down and saw a newspaper heading from the Elysium Herald and saw his answer. The headline read **Raid on Grissom Academy Foiled by the Alliance. Suspect Believed to be a Member of the Criminal Organization: the Talons. **

Below the head line Shepard saw a picture of a blonde haired woman, mid forties by the looks of her, alongside Anderson. Shepard scratched his chin lightly and motioned to Liara with his free hand, so they could examine the data pad closer. "So Aria thinks this Grayson guy was behind the murder of her daughter, and you think that he was helping Cerberus attack Grissom Academy? Who're the Talons? I've never heard of them before."

Liara stepped in to explain the headline's message. "The use of the Omega organization the Talons was just a cover up, Grayson was the main instigator behind it all. According to several of the reports my agents in the Alliance have been sending me, Grayson was there to abduct biotic students from the Alliance's Ascension Project."

"The Shadow Broker…I mean, you have spies in the Alliance?" Shepard asked with a slight shock in his voice. He obviously had no idea how far the original Shadow Broker's reach was.

"The Shadow Broker had more than a few high ranking officers in Alliance Parliament working for him at the time we seized power. Don't worry, it is no one that you have ever met, and now that I am running the show, I only have them forward me information that is pertinent to our current task at hand."

"Finding out everything there is to know about Cerberus-"

"-And figuring a way out to stop the Reapers from killing all of us, yes, that would largely be what I'm referring to. In any event, what makes me suspect that that was a Cerberus action is this." Liara quickly fetched a nearby holographic screen and slid it to Shepard. His eyes narrowed on it; the picture was granular, dim, and extremely degraded but he recognized the insignia of a shadowy figure near one of the students. It was Cerberus. The man in the photograph had his back turned from the camera so there was no way to identify him, but his golden hexagonal insignia, located in between the man's shoulder blades, was as clear as day**. **

_Cerberus always did like marking their territory, damn fools. _Andreas mused as he scrolled down further to examine other security stills. "Ok, so this was Cerberus all right. So, what made these guys go to Grissom Academy? How do Anderson and that woman fit into all of this?" He turned to face Liara; she cupped her chin in her palms to think of how to explain.

"I only have bits and pieces, but based off of the intel reports I'm seeing, Grayson went to Grissom Academy to capture students from the Ascension Project."

"Is there any specific reason that Grayson, or Cerberus for that matter would be after these kids?"

"I'm sure given your decorated history with Elysium, that you are quite familiar with the Ascension Project's goals."

Shepard's arms crossed and he scrolled to examine a holo of the academy. "I am, they take in biotic kids who don't have the means to fully control their powers and help them integrate into society." he stated in his velvet voice, while he continued to examine the previous newspaper from Elysium.

"Right, and imagine if Cerberus were able abduct even a few of those children. The destructive capability that could occur would be astronomical, especially with Cerberus' methods of manipulation." Liara turned to Shepard.

Shepard's brows rose as the reality hit him, his shock was evident. "Cerberus bastards, they were after children. Just so they could make them into weapons?"

"Grayson was, thankfully Anderson was there to intervene. Although I do not believe Grayson was acting on Cerberus' accord."

"What do you mean, Liara?" Liara stepped a few feet away from her console and made her way to the stairs to the upper level.

"I have found some security footage from the academy that may catch your interest, Shepard." She motioned for him to follow. Shepard took a few steps towards her, when the door opened revealing her drell assistant.

"You know, Liara, if we ever get this hunk of junk space worthy, we definitely need to consider a change in locals. My vote is for some place warm and- " Feron stopped when he noticed Shepard, and he let a smile pull at his velvet lips. "Shepard, hey, it's good to see you again."

Feron rushed toward them and took Andreas' hand in his to give him a firm handshake. "Feron, I'm glad to see you up and about. What've you been up to?" Shepard spoke with a grin to his compatriot.

"Upgrades, mostly, the Broker's ship tech is sophisticated…but old. That reminds me, be sure and pass along word to your salarian friend that he has my thanks for those ship upgrades he forwarded. They've been very useful thus far, especially those dampener rod stabilizers."

Liara interjected into the conversation. "Most of them have been useful. Some of them however, were less than beneficial."

"I still think that Mordin had something when he gave us those upgrades for the Broker's old network software." Feron came to Mordin's defense.

"His supposed upgrades would have overloaded half of the ship's internal systems!"

"I'm sure we could've worked around it. Anyway, I should probably get back out there just came in to get some water. Oh, and Shepard…I heard about what happened in the Bahak system, it's been all over the news vids. I just wanted you to know that that wasn't your fault, from what Liara told me, you didn't have any other choice."

"Thanks Feron," Shepard gave him a small smile and Feron took his leave with Glyph not far behind him.

"Agent Feron, if you require sustenance, the crew mess is currently serving lunch, or if you require assistance, please contact me through your omni-tool. I would be more than happy to assist you." The tiny orb of light followed close behind like a puppy.

Feron shook his head at the tiny VI and made his way out the door. "Thanks, but that won't be necessary Glyph, I got it."

Shepard and Liara made their way up the stairs to the Shadow Broker's video archive room. Fortunately, Shepard had a little help from Liara, which was a good thing because stairs were definitely proving a challenge for him right now. "So, Feron looks like he's doing a lot better since I last saw him." Andreas excused himself from Liara's grip and made his way over to the door.

"I keep him busy. I think it helps keep his mind off of things, to a certain extent. He is still a drell though," Liara candidly spoke to Shepard.

"Right, I remember that they sometimes can't control that memory recall ability of theirs."

"Oh yes, you have a drell on your squad. Thane Krios, right?"

Shepard nodded. "Yeah, he told me that some Drell disappear into something he refers to as 'solipsism'. Where a memory feels just as real as their lives, the feeling is so real…that their minds can't tell the difference. Does Feron ever recall what the Broker did to him?" Shepard opened the door and motioned for Liara to precede him. Once she was inside he followed close at her heels.

"Sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night and find him making repairs. He says it is just something he forgot to do, but I feel that it is simply him repressing his memories."

"Is there anything that can be done for him?"

Liara shook her head 'no', she made her way to the video terminal and waited for Shepard to catch up. "Unfortunately, no, all I can do is give him time, and hope his psychological scars heal along with the physical ones."

"I guess that's all we really can do. Oh, and speaking of Thane…any leads into solutions for his condition?" Shepard asked with hope that maybe her resource network had found something. Sadly, the asari only shook her head solemnly.

"Aside from a full lung replacement, I am afraid not. His condition is far, too expansive and so far no one within the Hanar Illuminated Primacy has even come close to formulating a stable solution for this, Kepral's Syndrome. I have diverted a few spare resources and scientists to their projects to help, but,"

"I get it. Thanks anyway, Liara." The bad news just seemed to keep on coming. Shepard took a special interest in Thane's case out of respect for him and his son Kolyat. Andreas had a father that always had always been there for him, even when he was accused of being an agent of a terrorist group; his dad never turned his back on him. While with Thane it was something different. The man never intentionally intended to abandon Kolyat; it was just an unfortunate side-effect of Thane's profession. Shepard respected the fact that Thane at least tried to mend their relationship. Andreas knew Thane was a decent man, a man whose only mistake was that of making the assumption that he was not fit to raise a child. There were worse fathers out there to be sure, Miranda and Tali could attest to that. He only wished he could do more to help him; a child shouldn't have to live a life without knowing their father.

"Shepard, are you ok?" Liara asked lightly.

Andreas realized he left his friend hanging. He shook his head lightly and took his place by her side. Shepard offered her a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, Liara. So what's this footage, which you've been telling me about?"

"Right," Liara raised her head to address the VI in the terminal's systems. "Glyph, play back video recording: Grissom Academy, 5.44.30., please."

The VI's synthesized voice came over the sound system. "Of course Dr.T'Soni, Searching in progress, please wait…file found." The screen came alive with a still image and a timer. There was a reception desk with two armed Alliance soldiers standing guard. Shepard recognized it almost instantly. After the blitz, he spent much of his recuperation on board Grissom Academy. "Elysium, Grissom Academy, date recorded: six weeks ago."

Liara began to play the footage and they both watched in silence. One of the guards picked up a small mug of coffee and drank from it; his partner motioned ahead of the large linoleum countertop. A large figure draped in a cloak walked up to the desk and Shepard could hear the figure's distorted greeting. One of the guards stood and moved towards him to scan the cloaked figure with his omni-tool, while his partner typed busily in the terminal behind the desk. Suddenly, much to Shepard's horror, the unthinkable happened. The figure's cloaked split open and two large worm-like tentacles spilled out; the guard that was scanning him didn't even have a chance to twitch before he was sliced in half.

Shepard's eyes narrowed on the screen, he recognized the configuration of the creature's appendages. Its flesh was similar to a husk's; it had large glowing cords intertwined with the flesh in its neck and arms. A blue sickly light emanated from the tears in its flesh, its face was shriveled and the eye sockets were sunken deep into the skull. Which could mean only one thing; this thing had Reaper tech infused with it. The second guard behind the desk dropped his coffee and tried to reach for his sidearm, but he was too slow. The creature's appendages moved at lightning speed wrapping around the guard's waist, while its remaining free outgrowth impaled him several times through the clavicle, splashing blood all over the camera in the process. The once clean opal linoleum floor was now stained a dark red with fresh blood. The large creature moved toward the reception desk and interfaced the Reaper extensions with the terminal behind the counter. Even through all the blood that was on the camera, Shepard could still make out the creature's face. In a sick way, it resembled Grayson's face. However it was too far manipulated and distorted; Shepard could barely tell that it had once been human.

Shepard's hands clenched into fists, he sighed angrily. "Damn it. Those people needed my help and I wasn't there. I should have been there, Liara."

Liara immediately retorted. "Shepard, you were already on a mission. How could things have possibly gone any different if you had intervened? Shepard, you do more than enough for the galaxy as is. You have to give yourself a break every now and then."

"I know. It's just…I guess that I feel an attachment to Elysium. That's all." His head sank low, and he regretted what had happened to the Academy. Liara offered him a smile and placed a hand gently on his shoulder.

"I don't know if this brings you any peace, but aside from those guards, no one else was harmed in the raid. Every one of those children was kept safe, and Grissom Academy has already begun repairs to the station."

"It does…thanks, Liara." Shepard offered her a small smile.

Liara returned her attention to the computer. "Glyph, fast forward…two hours please." The screen blurred as the VI acknowledged her request. The recording continued two hours later. Shepard could see the Grayson husk attacking two armed soldiers. A closer view revealed that it was Anderson and the blonde haired woman from earlier; they were facing off against the creature. Its raw strength was immense; it slammed two of its massive limbs into the ground in an attempt to impale Anderson. Anderson was fast for his age, though, it had been a while since Shepard had seen his old mentor in action. Anderson dodged forward and shotgunned the beast several times in its chest, a black tar like substance poured from the exit wound. The monster slammed its arm into Anderson, flinging him several feet into the wall. The blonde haired woman moved in to fire several blasts from an M-3 Predator into its head, but the abomination was too powerful. It made a lunge for the blonde woman and wrapped its disgusting appendages around her face. The woman struggled for a few minutes, but the beast's grip was strong. Her arms fell limp to her side. Shepard thought it killed her, but her eyes were wide with terror and her arms were slightly twitching.

Shepard pointed his finger to the terminal. "What the hell is that thing doing to her?"

Liara's face darkened and she stared into his eyes. "I believe it is trying to indoctrinate her, though I cannot say for certain."

Shepard's eyes widened in shock, his mouth fell open in silent terror. "That thing could do that? Wait…my memory may be a bit fuzzy. Didn't Rhana say that indoctrination was an undetectable signal emanated by Reaper tech? How could Cerberus recreate this signal for military use? No one even knows its composition."

"True, however I believe that Reaper tech could theoretically emit the signal naturally. If that's the case, all a Reaper would have to do is force indoctrination into a host's mind. After all, it is only a signal. A Reaper would only need to find the frequency that dictates behavior then insert a similar electron transfer into the host. However, if what Rhana suggested is true, then that would result in a complete break down of the host's parietal and frontal brain functions."

"In other words…"

"The subject would be nothing more than a shell, or a husk, if you'll excuse the term."

Andreas continued to watch the screen in silence. Anderson recovered in time to ram into the former Grayson, which provided just enough force to pry the blonde woman from its grasp. The large creature stumbled back, and it tried to once again impale Anderson. Only this time, that Cerberus agent from the earlier footage showed up once again. Shepard recognized the man almost instantly; he was much shorter than Anderson and had a slender, more athletic physique. He had deep black hair which matched his equally dark onyx armor, aside from the small gold Cerberus insignia that was adorned on his chest and back. The creature tried several times to impale the new opponent, but he was much quicker than he appeared. He gracefully and nimbly avoided the sluggish beast's powerful attacks, and with each miss, the man in the footage severed one of the extensions for good measure. Eventually, after a few minutes of fierce fighting between the three of them, the Cerberus agent managed to impale what appeared to be a sword into the creature's neck. More black tar oozed from the wound and coated the camera. Through the stained camera lens, Shepard could see Anderson, or at least it looked like Anderson, shotgun the monster in its leg. The shot brought the Reaper Grayson to its knees; Anderson used the opportunity to ram his body weight into the creature, knocking it to the ground. The Cerberus agent then moved in to decapitate the creature, effectively ending Grayson's misery once and for all. 

"End of recording…would you like me to replay the footage, Dr.T'Soni?" Glyph's synthetic voice cut into the video footage abruptly.

Liara crossed her arms behind her back. "No, thank you Glyph. That will be all."

"Okay…so we have Cerberus experimenting with Reaper tech and attacking Alliance facilities. A pretty ballsy move, especially for the Illusive Man. What about that guy? You know…the one with the sword, any ideas on who he is?" Shepard's face became a question mark and he turned to his companion, who unfortunately looked just as confused as he did.

"No, though that is hardly surprising, it's like this man does not exist. Even with all my resources, I was unable to dig up anything. I couldn't find a name, a service record, not even a birth certificate. Cerberus does a good job of erasing their people from the face of the galaxy."

"Sometimes literally," Shepard spoke coldly. He wondered how many other people within Cerberus had to have their personal lives 'erased'. Even Kelly could have been a different person at one point or another. _No. Kelly wouldn't lie to me, ever. Would she? No, I'm just being paranoid. She's the love of my life. I know she is who she claims she is._

"Shepard," Liara's tender voice cut sharply into his thoughts. "Did you hear me?"

"Sorry, Liara, I just spaced out for a minute. You were saying?"

Liara surprisingly took no offense in the fact that Andreas had just openly ignored her. She brought up a data pad and activated it. Shepard turned to her, waiting for her to finish her work. She handed him the small hand held device, he found that it was tuned to one particular bit of data.

"This data also leads me suspect that Cerberus is up to something big." Liara crossed her arms across her chest while Shepard explored the data pad's contents. "Since you told EDI to forward those Cerberus subsidiaries to me, I have noticed unusual economic instabilities in several of the minor front corps."

"What kind of economic disturbances?"

"I have been tracking a severe decrease in company stocks for several of Cerberus' dummy corporations, more specifically, within the Terra Nova Commonwealth Bank and CDR Holdings. Many of the companies' board members have suddenly retired, and the companies' names have stopped being displayed in the intergalactic stock exchange."

"That could have just been some of the fallout from my suicide mission. They did have to front a lot of funds to keep my team alive. Oh, and I bet bringing me back to life cost 'em a pretty penny too." Shepard's eyes never left the small hand held device. Liara was right about the stock errors. They were downright weird, especially from a long run aggregate supply/ aggregate demand scale. The demand for CDR and Terra Nova Commonwealth stocks used to be through the roof, with prices for these stocks increasing daily by upwards of $.35 credits. Prior to a few days ago, CDR and Terra Nova Commonwealth had been surprisingly lucrative. Even despite their minor setbacks due to funding Shepard's little mission, they were still some of the most hotly traded shares on the market. Just one bond could sell for up to $50 creds a pop. Now the companies' stocks had hit rock bottom, at less than $10 credits per each share. Something was definitely wrong here.

"Any idea what caused the fiscal changes, Liara?" Shepard turned slightly to pass the question to her.

Liara lightly rubbed her chin in thought. "I only have theories, but I believe the Illusive Man is liquidizing the least lucrative businesses for some other purpose. For example, take a look at New Dawn Pharmaceuticals, Haribon Military Industries, and the Milky Way Foundation. Their stocks have almost tripled in value in less than three days."

She wasn't lying; the current selling price for these companies stock was unbelievable. Stocks that had started out at 15 credits a share had suddenly skyrocketed to 375 credits a share. Gross investment in the respective companies had jumped by almost 30% in the last hour. Cerberus was getting some major backing for something huge.

"There's more too. Take a look at the figures I just uploaded to your data pad." Liara finished typing on her orange holographic greave and the data appeared on his small contrivance.

Liara was right about there being more; in fact, this may have been the most disturbing bit of intel. There was a large spike in traffic over the last few weeks in the Omega Nebula, more specifically, in the Sahrabarik system. "These numbers are insane, Liara? What kind of ships have you been seeing? How many have already been imported into the system?" Shepard immediately faced her.

"Only civilian crafts, however the increase in ships is up by almost 25% in just the last week. Merchant vessels, supply ships, even a few heavy loading frigates. However, based on the pattern, it is assumed that the increase in traffic has created an influx of over 24 billion credits for Omega in less than a week."

"What could be so valuable in the Sahrabarik system that traffic could generate that…oh, God no." Shepard dropped the data pad and rubbed his hands across his face. "God damn it! They're after Omega Four. Those Cerberus lunatics are trying to use the Omega Four relay to recover Collector tech."

"That's impossible; they would need a Reaper Identification Friend Foe system to even have a chance of safely navigating their way through there. Your ship is the only one in 50,000 years to even posses anything remotely similar to actual Reaper IFF software."

"That's how they got it. Damn it, the IFF. EDI must've uploaded a copy to Cerberus back when she was restricted by her command protocols. Shit! I should've caught that right from the start. I should've had Tali double check after she and EDI finished their installations, but…"

"It wasn't your fault, Shepard. You had no way of knowing that EDI would act on command protocols. Besides for all you know, Cerberus may have had spy programs inside of the Normandy's systems. They could have already recovered the IFF before you even installed it aboard your ship."

"That's true I suppose. Got anything else worth mentioning, Liara?"

Liara mused silently for a few seconds before quickly snapping her fingers. "Yes. Actually there is one thing worth mentioning. Remember how I mentioned that woman that was murdered, Liselle?" Shepard nodded quickly and she continued. "Well, ever since she was murdered I have been tracking Aria's private accounts and have noticed something interesting. Aria's financial accounts have expanded over the past few weeks."

"How much of an expansion are we talking about, Liara?" Shepard waited while Liara looked up the numbers.

"Her private accounts have shot up by almost 100 million credits weekly. However, the part that ties all this together is that the payments are being funneled in from several Cerberus proxies. A majority of the proceeds have been coming from Cord-Hislop Aerospace and Terra Nova Commonwealth Bank."

"Figures Aria would have at least one of her hands in the cookie jar. So this means Aria is in Cerberus' pocket, right?"

Liara crossed her arms and took a few steps toward the couch in the video archive room. "I do not believe so. If what I am seeing is accurate, Cerberus is mainly using Omega as a sort of port for refueling. I doubt she would be foolish enough to…as you humans say, get on the bed with an enemy."

"Uh…I think that you meant get into bed with an enemy, Liara."

"Why would humans say getting in bed with and enemy?" She asked innocently.

"Well…" Shepard started to explain to her with raspberry colored cheeks, when the expression clicked.

"Oh," Her face turned equally as flushed. "Forgive me for my misunderstanding. So that is how it is commonly expressed in human culture?"

"More or less, then there is another human expression: for there to be betrayal, there would have to be trust first. Aria may be a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them. If she's even got half a brain, she knows Cerberus can't be trusted." Shepard made his way from the video terminal toward Liara and saw that she was currently sitting down.

"Thanks for the intel, Liara. I'll pass the word along to the Alliance brass as soon as possible. If that's everything I'll head back to my ship, I've still got a lot to do." Shepard started to make his way past the resting area when Liara called out to him.

"Shepard," the asari lightly spoke in a tone that made him turn around slightly. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about what happened?"

Shepard's face contorted. He knew what she was referring to, but just for good measure he decided to play it coy. "Talk about what, Liara?"

"What happened out there in Batarian space?" His heart sank; he knew that this was going to come up. He didn't want to talk about what had happened, not to Kelly, and not to her. Andreas tried to shrug off her request as politely as possible.

He lightly took the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. "Liara…there isn't anything to talk about." He returned his hand to his side so he could look into Liara's soothing blue eyes. "I did my job, I stopped the Reapers, and that's all. Now if you'll excuse me."

He abruptly ended his conversation and started toward the door, when Liara once again addressed him softly. "Shepard, please, do you remember all those years ago when we linked our minds together on the Normandy?"

Shepard stopped and nodded solemnly. He remembered it all too well, especially the massive headache he had afterward. Out of respect for Liara, though, he kept that part to himself and simply waited for her to continue. "Well…ever since then I have felt a connection between us. When you died, I felt your pain as though it were my own. When you panicked on that table in Minuteman Station, I could feel your agony. Now, I can feel something else…a deep painful regret, an overwhelming sense of grief. Something happened out there that was incredibly painful for you, a deep emotional wound that has yet to be mended."

Shepard's eyes widened slightly. _She couldn't really know what I'm feeling…could she? Damn Asari mind magic. _Shepard tried once more to throw his companion off of his trail with another empty bluff. "Liara, really, I'm fine. Thanks for your concern but it's-"

"Shepard," the young asari cut him off in a stern parental manner. "You don't have to lie to me. Please, you can talk to me my friend. Won't you take a seat?" She motioned to the empty sofa that was next to her.

Seeing as there was no other way out of this, Shepard surrendered peacefully and joined his friend. Andy spent the next fifteen minutes getting Liara up to speed on everything that had happened. He explained how Hackett sent him out there to recover the Alliance operative . He illustrated how he walked into that trap and how in the end he was forced to kill over 300,000 people to barely stall the Reapers' invasion. After that last bit they remained silent for a few minutes. The tension was almost unbearable. He almost wished that he had another horrible pain in his sides so he could cough and break the silence. Fortunately for him, Liara wasn't nearly as reserved about discussing this topic as he was.

"Goddess, Shepard, I…I am so sorry. I had no idea, are you ok?"

He quickly averted his eyes to the ground and muttered under his breath. "No. I'm not." She tried to place her hand on his shoulder and he sprang to his feet instantly. "God damn it, Liara. I knew Kenson was lying, I could feel it. I knew something was wrong the minute that I talked to her in that shuttle. If I had just been more cautious, I knew she was indoctrinated but I played along anyway. I never should have trusted her. If I had only listened to my instincts… maybe those 300,000 people would still be alive right now."

"Shepard, you did everything you could. What happened out there was because of the Reapers, not you. You did what was necessary to save billions of lives from genocide. You made the right choice."

"But those people, Liara…"

She raised her hand to silence him. Her eyes met his but it was not out of an objection to his actions, rather it was out of a deep pity. Her ice blue eyes soothed his burning soul, and he returned to his seat without protest so she could continue.

"Shepard you warned them with less than thirty minutes left. At best, they would have maybe gotten a dozen off world. If they even believed you, more than likely the Batarian Hegemony would have ignored your warning had they received it."

"Dr.T'Soni is correct," The Glyph's tiny orb like figure appeared next to her. "Acting under the given time constraints of a forty-eight hour window. The Batarian Hegemony would have only been able to extract an estimated 25.6% of their population before the final detonation. A full colonial evacuation could not have been possible without a time frame smaller than five to seven solar cycles."

Liara had a worried expression on her face, but surprisingly the tiny VI's assessment actually did bring Shepard some comfort. He nodded toward her as a silent gesture of appreciation. "Thank you, Glyph. That will be all," She replied genially, and the tiny orb disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

Liara clasped her hands in her lap and asked in a warm voice. "So what happens to you now?"

Shepard rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm turning myself over to the Alliance. Hackett wants me to take the heat for this incident."

"That isn't fair Shepard, you did everything right."

"Liara this needs to happen and you know that."

"What about when the Reapers show up," Liara asked him worriedly. He clasped his hands together and let his elbows rest on his knees.

"I don't know…I imagine when the Reapers do show up I'll be granted amnesty. At the very least they'll humor me and have me fight as a conscript." Andreas said uncertainly. In all honesty, he had no idea what would happen next anymore than Liara did. These were at best mild chances and at worst very far off possibilities.

"What about your team? Have you told them about this?" she asked and patiently waited for him to respond.

Shepard let out a small sigh and nodded. "Just before I came here I told them. They didn't like it, especially Tali and Garrus."

"Naturally,"

"I can't say that I like it any more than they do. For now though, this seems like the only option at our disposal."

"And the woman serving with you, Chambers. How did she take the news?"

Shepard was more apprehensive when this particular issue came up. Liara immediately could tell that she had just struck a raw nerve. "I…I haven't told her yet," Andreas barely whispered. Liara's eyes were full of sympathy, and she paused slightly to formulate her next words carefully.

"She…means a great deal to you, doesn't she?"

Shepard's eyes shut lightly, and he rubbed his fingers together uncomfortably. "Yes, she does." Shepard couldn't see it but Liara let out a slight smile at him.

"I thought as much. When you invited me aboard your ship for our reunion I could sense how much meant to you. Is Kelly what you are fighting for? Is a future with her what you want most out of this galaxy?"

Shepard sat up as straight as his injured sides would allow. "Kelly isn't like any woman I've ever met, Liara. She's compassionate, funny, and unbelievably charming. Being with her makes me feel normal again. After Ash died…I never thought the pain would disappear, but Kelly's changed that. It's still there of course, but it just doesn't hurt as much as it used to. Is it wrong for me to feel this way? I mean I still love Ashley, but I love Kelly too. I don't want to forget her, it's just…"

"Shepard, it is not wrong to feel this way. When Asari lose their bond mates they move on, but they never forget them. As I have said, Shepard, a relationship is not about the inevitable loss of a partner. A relationship should be based on the time we spend with our partners, enjoying the company we share with them. Ashley was a strong woman; she knew how much you loved her…even in the end. She would want you to find happiness, even if it wasn't with her."

Shepard smiled slightly at his friend; Liara always did have a way of putting things into perspective. These talks that they shared reminded him of why he enjoyed talking with her, she was a great friend. Andy cleared his throat lightly and decided to ask Liara for advice. "So what do you think I should tell Kelly? Do you have any advice on how I should break the news to her?"

"Just tell her how you feel, Shepard. She doesn't seem the type of woman who is unsympathetic to emotional distress. I'm certain that she would understand your feelings. Just be honest with Kelly, and you will be fine."

"Thanks, I will, Liara." They spent the next few minutes in silence. Finally, Shepard rose from his seat. "I should go," he politely offered his friend. She rose as well and clasped her hands between her legs.

"Of course, and I should return to work as well. I certainly hope this is not our last meeting Shepard…but if it is..." Liara stated softly with a slight remorse. Shepard stopped her with a hug and she returned his embrace just as softly.

"I'll see you again, Liara. I have a bad feeling I'm going to need you in this fight." Shepard spoke kindly to her before releasing her from his grip. Liara smiled at him reassuringly and held his hands in hers.

"I know, just…be careful my friend. May the Goddess watch over you, Shepard." Liara released Andreas' hands and watched in silence as he left the room…

_To be continued in Mass Effect: Valediction…_

**A/N Hey Bats, it's me! Been a while, huh guys and girls? In any rate I hope everyone has been enjoying the ride thus far, if not then that's fine too. I'd like to thank you all for your continued reading and awesome comments thus far. The best part of writing this has been the response to it, to all my followers and subscribers: thank you sincerely for your patronage. I'm happy to say that there is definitely more to come with this story. It will be continued in my second half titled: **_**Mass Effect: Valediction**_**, so feel free to stop on by once it's posted. So in the words of Mr. Martin Sheen: "Stay tuned…I'm not done yet." I'm just very slow. I would also like to thank the extremely generous Sigyn 2011, who has thus far been beta reading this for me (you didn't think I did this all on my own did you? Silly little Bat). Her work is some of the best on this site, (Don't believe me? Check out her work for yourself…and I dare you not to be amazed!). I highly encourage any of my fellow readers to please go check out her work, trust me, you won't regret it. Her latest original work: **_**Edge of Obliteration**_** is a thrilling Sci-Fi romp that is sure to please with its constant humor, heart stopping action, and touching character driven narrative (It reads like a cross between ME and The Bourne series…if that sounds like it's awesome, that's because it is!). I'd highly recommend checking it out for your selves at Trafford Publishing under the pen name: Sigyn Piwonka, Trafford offers the paper back copy at $14.23 plus S&H. For the more thrifty and tech savvy among you, **_**Edge of Obliteration**_** is also available on and Barnes and Nobles for $3.99 in eBook format for your Kindles and $3.43 on Nook respectively. Oh, and if you're hungry for some more of 's character in ME (and let's face it, who isn't?). Feel free to check out her exemplary work on Miri and Shep, her latest is **_**Destination**_**, a touching tale of a post ME 3 Miranda Lawson, which will be updated soon. In any event, at the risk of sounding like a cheap Avina add I will simply leave on a good note. Thanks so much for all the support and I hope I continue to make you guys proud as I write about one of my all time favorite LIs in Mass Effect.**


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